For a company that has the tagline "It's what's happening", Twitter seems to have found itself in a bit of a conundrum. At a time when you would expect the social media platform to be thriving, given the events in the UK and the US, Twitter hasn't really managed to capitalise – at least, not where it counts.
Twitter is ground zero for the musing of US president Donald Trump. He frequently tweets everything from his objections to his coverage, his approval ratings, his perceived opponents, the "fake news" surrounding his administration and his many, many achievements since entering office.
But despite that direct line, Twitter only grew its user base by 2 million active users in the fourth quarter of the year. It now has 319 million monthly active users. That is a figure that is dwarfed by Facebook’s active users – more than 1.1 billion at the last count – and its growth, which was set at 72 million active users in the last quarter.
Daily active users
Twitter has pointed to the fact that its daily active users are growing, up 11 per cent, according to current chief operating officer
Anthony Noto
, and that growth has continued into the first quarter of the year. But the company doesn’t say exactly how many daily active users it has.
It also still has a massive problem with harassment – something that has been a constant battle on Twitter, and it doesn’t seem as if victory is certain for the platform.
Despite the lacklustre growth figures, chief executive Jack Dorsey is confident that the company has its place in the public sphere. Speaking in an analyst call, he said: "The whole world is watching Twitter. While we may not be currently meeting everyone's growth expectations, there is one thing that continues to grow and outpace our peers: Twitter's influence and impact."
Cold, hard cash
Influence and impact are great, but at some point, that has to translate into cold, hard cash. Because user numbers aren’t the worst of Twitter’s problems. The latest figures show a decline in advertising, to $638 million for the quarter. That’s not a good situation for the company to be in, when every figure is already being picked over by Wall Street.
The real question is, exactly what is “it” that’s happening at Twitter? Where exactly is Twitter going wrong? What can Dorsey and co do to propel the platform into the next stage? Answers in 140 characters or less, please.
