The real value of Twitter is to provide real-time information channels and interactive channels

Absrtact: "The real value of Twitter is to provide real-time information dissemination channels and interactive channels, and as a social network, it also has limitless potential," says Ben Bajarin, a Benbagalin in the US Fortune magazine's online edition today. The following is the article

' The real value of Twitter is to provide real-time information dissemination channels and interactive channels, and as a social network, it also has limitless potential, ' says Ben Bajarin, a Ben Bagalin in the US Fortune magazine's online edition today.

The following is the full text of the article:

Every morning, I wake up with a cup of coffee and then sit at the table and use the ipad to turn on Twitter. I've built a list on Twitter that includes major tech media and individual users who often share relevant tech news, industry analytics, or other content that interests me. Thanks to Twitter, it takes me a few minutes to navigate the big news in the tech industry. For me, Twitter has replaced the morning paper.

While chatting with peers, I find that Twitter's value has been widely misunderstood. I often hear the theory that we just create a narcissistic community where people like to share the bits and pieces of their lives. This is true in some cases, but to understand the nature of Twitter, the key is not to see what you're releasing, but to see what you're spending on Twitter, and that's what really counts.

Real-time information channels

None of the services I use have the value of Twitter. For me, it's a news service that allows us to get information, news, events, and, almost immediately, when things happen. Throughout the history of the broadcast media, when major events occur, people turn on radios or television sets to understand the situation. I feel like we're in the midst of a transformation, and Twitter is likely to be a new generation of important broadcasting mechanisms.

A few years ago, I remember many people worried about the reluctance of news organizations, broadcasters and major brands to use Twitter. They don't see the value of Twitter at all. Now chatting with these people, it's hard to imagine life without Twitter. If a person's industry needs to release information, Twitter can provide a real-time link to the target audience. This energy and potential cannot be underestimated. This is thanks to the fundamentals of real-time information, but Twitter is also going further, providing real-time interaction.

Which media can provide information and interact with the source in real time? Through Twitter, brands, content publishers, and news organizations can not only disseminate information effectively, but also interact with audiences in real time. The effectiveness of this function was vividly reflected in the U.S. presidential election last November. Twitter is not only a key channel for delivering information in real time, it also provides a platform for people to interact with presidential candidates and journalists and even ask questions during the debate. There are a number of similar examples that highlight the central role Twitter plays in changing the way information is consumed and how it interacts with information sources.

I've talked to celebrities, musicians, politicians, sports stars, and I've interacted with a lot of people who understand technology news and analytics, all through Twitter. What other platform can provide such a real-time information broadcast and interactive channel?

Can Twitter kill Facebook?

In addition to my views on how Twitter is used, I see another potential for Twitter: its role in social networking.

I've been doing an informal survey on my Facebook "timeline" in recent days, with only 28% of my friends posting over 140 characters in the timeline, most posts short, or with pictures or article links, so it's perfectly possible to achieve the same function on Twitter.

I personally hate Facebook more than love. While it is occasionally felt that Facebook is valuable, the experience is still worse. Many of my friends are no longer using this service, and even though they are still in use, there is little substance to be published. In fact, the only reason I'm still using Facebook is that I have a few friends who don't live in the United States. They do not often post, but once posted, I would like to see. I often joke that if all my friends use Twitter, my life will be better.

In fact, because I often interact with fans on Twitter, I have a good relationship with many of the contacts on Twitter, and I know even more about them than Facebook friends.

Do I think Twitter can kill Facebook? I'm not sure. Is there a lot of people on Facebook who experience better than me? I'm sure there is. But I've also done enough market research to find that more and more people who have been using Facebook for more than three years are starting to resent the service and all the ads on it. In fact, when I was studying the friend posts in the timeline, I also studied the sponsored posts or recommended posts in my time axis. On average, about 10% to 15% of my message walls contain sponsored posts, depending on how many times I use them every day. To be honest, although Facebook's data is still good, I'm worried about the long-term prospects of the platform.

I firmly believe that through Twitter, I have been able to keep in touch with friends and even better interact with them. Do they change? But I still hope that Twitter, as a social network, can get a bigger scale than today.

Twitter has become one of the most disruptive new media today. While content such as real-time information, interactivity, and social networking is the main way to use it today, I think the real power of Twitter still stems from some of the ways that have not been mined yet. I believe Twitter will be built to grow.