Here's Twitter's Big Problem: It's Not Going Mainstream

An interesting analysis from the San Francisco Chronicle on how Twitter is not as mainstream as you think.

Our own experience, in other words, suggests that Twitter is still mainly a tech phenomenon, albeit a profoundly powerful one, while Facebook has totally gone mainstream.

But that's ridiculous, you say. Of course Twitter has "gone mainstream." Look how many followers Britney Spears has. Look how many Lady Gaga has. Look how many Ashton Kutcher has. These are mainstream celebrities, and Twitter users are NUTS about them.

But compared to the number of global citizens who are desperate to follow Lady Gaga's every twitch, it's actually a relatively small number. (To put the number in context, according to Wikipedia, Lady Gaga has sold 15 million albums and 51 million singles as of August 2010). And the same goes for Britney Spears, Ashton Kutcher, and most of the other Twitter bigs.)

Read full article.

emily | 6:15 PM | Twitter |
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