I can clearly remember the launch of Twitter, and thinking how odd was the concept of sending a text message restricted to just 140 characters. Of course, I now tweet on a regular basis and follow many fellow tweeters, along with my daily catch-up on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. So, one would expect Twitter to be a runaway success as a business, assured of billions of dollars in future revenues. Not so, I discovered, when researching the company for my series of lectures on Leadership, Teambuilding and Managerial Creativity.
The business has been dogged by problems with its management team, but most interestingly, it has always struggled to decide exactly what Twitter is. Its founders have consistently maintained that it is not a social networking site. So is it simply a communications tool, or something more? This confused thinking and lack of vision has made investors wary, and has kept away top talent. So what will become of Twitter – everyone’s favourite ‘don’t quite know what’? Answers in 140 characters, please.
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