Here's the Twitter Case Study prepared by me, Mitesh M Motwani. I've covered the following topics: Introduction Background Twitter Vocabulary Evolution Monetization Competing with Facebook Conclusion Ways to reach me: LinkedIn: www.BeingMCuBE.com Twitter: @BeingMCuBE

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Twitter Case Study
By
Mitesh M Motwani
LinkedIn: BeingMCuBE.com
Twitter: @BeingMCuBE
Dreamer. Entrepreneur. Digital Strategist. Aspiring Venture Capitalist.

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Introduction
Since its inception in March, 2006 Twitter has grown to 280 million active users, however this pales in comparison to Facebook which has 1.32 billion active users. Twitter’s revenue (as on Q3 2014) paints a similar picture: $361 million compared to Facebook’s $3.2 billion. If this wasn’t enough, Twitter’s user growth rate has fallen from 40% in Q3 2013 to 25%. Will Twitter be able to compete with Facebook before Facebook introduces real-time features that make Twitter redundant? [1][2][3][4]
Background
Inventor of Twitter Jack Dorsey was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on November 19, 1976. Growing up in St. Louis, Dorsey became interested in computers and

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communications at an early age and began programming while still a student at Bishop DuBourg High School. He was fascinated by the technological challenge of coordinating taxi drivers, delivery vans and other fleets of vehicles that needed to remain in constant, real-time communication with one another. When he was 15, Dorsey wrote dispatch software that is still used by some taxicab companies today.
After a brief stint at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, Dorsey transferred to New York University. In the tradition of computer science entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, he dropped out of college before receiving his degree. Instead, Dorsey moved to Oakland, California, and in 2000 started a company offering his dispatch software through the Web. Shortly after starting his company, Dorsey came up with the idea for a site that would combine the broad reach of dispatch software with the ease of instant messaging.
Dorsey approached a now-defunct Silicon Valley company called Odeo to pitch the concept. "He came to us with this idea: 'What if you could share your status with all your friends really easily, so they know what you're doing?'" said Biz Stone, a former Odeo executive. Dorsey, Stone and Odeo co-founder Evan Williams started a new company, called Obvious, which later evolved into Twitter. Within two weeks,

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Dorsey had built a simple site where users could instantly post short messages of 140 characters or less, known in Twitter parlance as "tweets."
On March 21, 2006, Jack Dorsey posted the world's first tweet: "just setting up my twttr." Dorsey was named the company's chief executive officer. Co-founder Evan Williams replaced Dorsey as Twitter's CEO in October 2008, with Dorsey staying on as company chairman.
Twitter was initially derided by some as a tool for the shallow and self-centered to broadcast the minutiae of their lives to the universe. Late-night comedy host Conan O'Brien even featured a segment called "Twitter Tracker" that mocked users of the service. In its early days, the site also suffered from frequent service outages. But as celebrities and CEOs alike began tweeting, Twitter was no longer the brunt of so many jokes. Suddenly the head of the "microblogging" movement, Twitter became a powerful platform for U.S. Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John

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McCain in 2008, as a method for updating their supporters while on the campaign trail.
Twitter vaulted to international prominence after the June 2009 presidential elections in Iran, when thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets to protest the claimed victory of incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. When the government blocked text messaging and satellite feeds of foreign news coverage, Iranian Twitter users flooded the site with live updates. A U.S. State Department official even emailed Dorsey to request that Twitter delay its scheduled maintenance so that protestors could keep tweeting. "It appears Twitter is playing an important role at a crucial time in Iran. Could you keep it going?" said a State Department spokesman, describing the call. Twitter complied.
In 2010, Twitter had more than 105 million users who together tweeted some 55 million times a day. Twitter may have already revolutionized the way that people communicate, but Dorsey isn't done yet. "In terms of technology, we're going to see a better and more immediate experience around the everyday things we do in life," Dorsey said. [5][6][7]

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Twitter Vocabulary
A tweet
Twitter Handle: Also known as a username. This is the name you select to represent yourself.
To Follow: To subscribe to someone’s updates on Twitter. You do this by clicking the “Follow” button on that specific person’s Twitter page, which can be found at http://twitter.com/USERNAME. (Insert the specific person’s username into the URL, like http://twitter.com/BeingMCuBE). When you follow someone, their updates will be displayed on your Twitter page so you know what they are doing.
To Follow Back: To subscribe to the updates of someone who has recently started following you. Whenever a new person follows you, you receive an email alert from

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Twitter. In the email, there will be a link to that person’s profile. By clicking the link, you can check out who they are and decide to follow them back or not. It is not required to follow everyone back, but many people like to.
Follower: A person who has subscribed to receive your updates. You can see your total number of followers on your Twitter profile page.
Update: Also known as a tweet. They can be no longer than 140-characters. (Later we will talk about different types of updates.) You post your update in the white text box under “What are you doing?”
@Reply: A public message sent from one Twitter user to another by putting @USERNAME at the beginning of the tweet.
Direct Message (or DM): A private message sent from one Twitter user to another by either clicking the “message” link on their profile or typing D USERNAME.
Twitter Stream: A list of a person’s real-time updates. Every time you post an update, it goes into your Twitter stream, which is found on your account page also at http://twitter.com/USERNAME.

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Tweet-up: An event specifically organized for Twitter-users to meet up and network, usually informal.
Hashtag (#): A tool to aggregate the conversation surrounding an event or theme. Created by combining a # with a word, acronym or phrase (#WORD).
Retweet (or RT): To repeat what someone else has already tweeted. People do this if someone has said something especially valuable and they want their own network to see the information too. (Example: Retweet @USERNAME: Check out this cool resource). [8]
Twitter User Profile Page

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Evolution
The company experienced rapid growth. It had 400,000 tweets posted per quarter in 2007. This grew to 100 million tweets posted per quarter in 2008. In February 2010, Twitter users were sending 50 million tweets per day. By March 2010, the company recorded over 70,000 registered applications. As of June 2010, about 65 million tweets were posted each day, equaling about 750 tweets sent each second, according to Twitter. As of March 2011, that was about 140 million tweets posted daily. As noted on Compete.com, Twitter moved up to the third-highest-ranking social networking site in January 2009 from its previous rank of twenty-second.
Twitter's usage spikes during prominent events. For example, a record was set during the 2010 FIFA World Cup when fans wrote 2,940 tweets per second in the thirty- second period after Japan scored against Cameroon on June 14. The record was broken again when 3,085 tweets per second were posted after the Los Angeles Lakers' victory in the 2010 NBA Finals on June 17, and then again at the close of Japan's victory over Denmark in the World Cup when users published 3,283 tweets per second. The record was set again during the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final between Japan and the United States, when 7,196 tweets per second were published. When American singer Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009, Twitter servers crashed after users were updating their status to include the words "Michael

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Jackson" at a rate of 100,000 tweets per hour. The current record as of August 3, 2013 was set in Japan, with 143,199 tweets per second (beating the previous record of 33,388, also set by Japan after a television screening of the movie "Castle In The Sky").
Twitter acquired application developer Atebits on April 11, 2010. Atebits had developed the Apple Design Award-winning Twitter client Tweetie for the Mac and iPhone. The application, now called "Twitter" and distributed free of charge, is the official Twitter client for the iPhone, iPad and Mac.
From September through October 2010, the company began rolling out "New Twitter", an entirely revamped edition of twitter.com. Changes included the ability to see pictures and videos without leaving Twitter itself by clicking on individual tweets which contain links to images and clips from a variety of supported websites including YouTube and Flickr, and a complete overhaul of the interface, which shifted links such as '@mentions' and 'Retweets' above the Twitter stream, while 'Messages' and 'Log Out' became accessible via a black bar at the very top of twitter.com. As of November 1, 2010, the company confirmed that the "New Twitter experience" had been rolled out to all users.
On April 5, 2011, Twitter tested a new homepage and phased out the "Old Twitter." On December 8, 2011, Twitter overhauled its website once more to feature the "Fly"

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design, which the service says is easier for new users to follow and promotes advertising. In addition to the Home tab, the Connect and Discover tabs were introduced along with a redesigned profile and timeline of Tweets. The site's layout has been compared to that of Facebook.
On February 21, 2012, it was announced that Twitter and Yandex agreed to a partnership. Yandex, a Russian search engine, finds value within the partnership due to Twitter's real time news feeds. Twitter's director of business development explained that it is important to have Twitter content where Twitter users go.
On March 21, 2012, Twitter celebrated its sixth birthday while also announcing that it has 140 million users and sees 340 million tweets per day. The number of users is up 40% from their September 2011 number, which was said to have been at 100 million at the time.
In April 2012, Twitter announced that it was opening an office in Detroit, with the aim of working with automotive brands and advertising agencies. Twitter also expanded its office in Dublin.
On June 5, 2012, a modified logo was unveiled through the company blog, removing the text to showcase the slightly redesigned bird as the sole symbol of Twitter.
On October 5, 2012, Twitter acquired a video clip company called Vine that launched in January 2013. Twitter released Vine as a standalone app that allows

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users to create and share six-second looping video clips on January 24, 2013. Vine videos shared on Twitter are visible directly in users' Twitter feeds. Due to an influx of inappropriate content, it is now rated 17+ in Apple's app store.
On December 18, 2012, Twitter announced it had surpassed 200 million monthly active users. Twitter hit 100 million monthly active users in September 2011.
On April 18, 2013, Twitter launched a music app called Twitter Music for the iPhone.
On August 28, 2013, Twitter acquired Trendrr, followed by the acquisition of MoPub on September 9, 2013.
As of September 2013, the company's data showed that 200 million users send over 400 million tweets daily, with nearly 60% of tweets sent from mobile devices.
On November 6, 2013, Twitter IPOed, on the first day of trading on the NYSE, Twitter shares opened at $26.00 and closed at US$44.90, giving the company a valuation of around $31 billion.
On June 4, 2014, Twitter announced that it will acquire Namo Media, a technology firm specializing in "native advertising" for mobile devices.
On June 19, 2014, Twitter announced that it has reached an undisclosed deal to buy SnappyTV, a service that helps edit and share video from television broadcasts. The

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company was helping broadcasters and rights holders to share video content both organically across social and via Twitter's Amplify program.
In July, 2014, Twitter announced that it intends to buy a young company called CardSpring for an undisclosed sum. CardSpring enables retailers to offer online shoppers coupons that they can automatically sync to their credit cards in order to receive discounts when they shop in physical stores.
On July 31, 2014, Twitter announced that it has acquired a small password-security startup called Mitro.
On October 29, 2014, Twitter announced a new partnership with IBM. The partnership is intended to help businesses use Twitter data to understand their customers, businesses and other trends. [3][5][9]

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Monetization
Promoted Tweets
Promoted Tweets are similar to organic Tweets. They can be retweeted, replied to and favorited. Promoted Tweets can include links to websites, hashtags and rich media. Here are the key ways they differ from organic Tweets:
Promoted Tweets gain wider distribution than organic Tweets, and you only pay when someone engages with them.
You can target Promoted Tweets to non-followers by gender, geography, language device, interests, keywords, tailored audiences or those who tweet or engage with

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selected keywords. TV targeting is also an option. Organic Tweets cannot be targeted.
You can promote Tweets that were published organically or create Promoted Tweets that aren’t published to all of your followers first. You can also have Promoted Tweets that skip your brand’s timeline altogether—these Tweets don’t go out to followers and are only seen by the audiences you select to target.
Promoted Tweets are clearly identified as promoted. Only one Promoted Tweet will appear in a user’s timeline at any given time.
Promoted Accounts

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A Promoted Account is an ad that invites targeted Twitter users to follow your brand – attracting more of the right followers to your brand faster.
And followers don’t just follow: They also engage, retweet, click through, continue the conversation and bring more like-minded followers. They’re also more likely to download, sign up and buy. In fact a recent study found that 72% of Twitter users said that they were more likely to make a future purchase from brands they follow or engage with on Twitter.
Once you have a follower, you can also continue to message these followers through both organic and Promoted Tweets – building your relationship over time.
Promoted Trends

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Trending topics on Twitter capture the moments consumers care about most. Trends appear in a module on the left side of the homepage, and you can change locations to see what’s trending in different countries around the world. Promoted Trends are positioned at the top of this list for a 24-hour window and are clearly marked with a promoted icon. Promoted Trends are a perfect way to kickstart a conversation, launch new products, run major campaigns or target key dates to drive mass awareness. They come with a special dashboard that gives you insight into Trend performance and other analytics.
Promoted Trends can drive business outcomes like increased brand advocacy, greater purchase consideration and long-term impact on earned media.
Promoted Trends boost brand conversation.
Promoted Trends helped advertisers kick-start conversations about their brands. In the 14 days following Promoted Trend exposure, Twitter users produced 22% more conversations about an advertiser compared to the two weeks before exposure (Twitter internal, 2013).

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Promoted Trends drive the most impact at the top of the funnel.
Kick off campaigns with a Promoted Trend to maximize awareness and purchase consideration. A 2013 study we conducted found that consumers skewed 151% more likely to tweet about considering a product after Promoted Trend exposure. Conversations about intent and purchase also jumped 19% and 33%, respectively.
Promoted Trends have a long-term impact.
A 2013 study by Twitter found that Promoted Trends had lasting impact on consumer conversations about brands. With a 73% lift in brand mentions, Promoted Trends had their greatest impact the day they ran. But even three weeks after a trend, advertisers reaped benefits: a 20% lift in brand mentions, 22% lift in positive mentions and 10% lift in Retweets. You can leverage these insights to use Promoted Trends more strategically — not only as supplements to 24-hour “moments” like product launches, but also as air cover to prop up other campaigns with flight dates that span three weeks or longer.
Along with this, Twitter also monetizes by licensing its data, which accounted for $41 million revenue in Q3 2014. [5]

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Competing with Facebook
Both Facebook and Twitter are used as ‘feeds’ which include information like news and updates from celebrity, public figures and brands. Both of them are heavily used to share information among users as well as for messaging. However, they are two fundamentally different platforms. Twitter is primarily meant for breaking / real- time news following a broadcast model while Facebook is essentially for close friends, family and acquaintances. Information shared there is often not in real-time. Facebook is also used for social gaming and is expected to soon be used for mobile payments.

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Twitter is facing a tough time competing with Facebook. Facebook attracts roughly seven times the engagement that Twitter does, when looking at both smartphone and PC usage, in per-user terms and refers about 20 times the traffic than Twitter. Twitter has also been facing much bigger problems like lagging user growth and monetization. As on Q3 2014, while Facebook has 1.32 billion active users, Twitter has only 280 million active users and the user growth rate has fallen from 40% in Q3 2013 to 25%. In terms of revenue, Facebook generated $3.2 billion in Q3 2014 while Twitter generated only $361 million. In the last 1 year, while Facebook’s stock is up 58%, Twitter’s stock has fallen by 8%. [1][2][3][4][5][10][11]

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Twitter’s stock performance: Last 1 year
Twitter vs Facebook stock performance: Last 1 year

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Conclusion
While Twitter continues to have a huge impact in distributing real-time information, it faces an existential threat from Facebook. The next one year will be a crucial period for Twitter. It will need to radically change its strategy before Facebook introduces features that give it a higher ‘real-time’ broadcasting capability that has virality built into it, as that has the potential to make Twitter redundant. Facebook has already proven its expertise in monetizing and Twitter will need to improve its ad product offerings and seek alternative revenue streams to fund its ambitions. Twitter will also need to improve its value proposition to lure more users to its platform and improve its user growth rate.

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References
1. Statista
2. Google Finance
3. Business Insider
4. ComScore
5. Twitter
6. Biography
7. Washington Post
8. HubSpot
9. Wikipedia
10. Pando
11. Mashable

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Mitesh M Motwani
LinkedIn: BeingMCuBE.com
Twitter: @BeingMCuBE
Dreamer. Entrepreneur. Digital Strategist. Aspiring Venture Capitalist.