Ask HN: Why did Twitter succeed?

#1

Post by shadowsun7 » Sat, Aug 07, 2010, 8:37 PM UTC

Hi HN,

I've never really understood Twitter as a business, and so I figure that since it's been bugging me for a good two years now, I'd might as well give it a shot and ask the good folks here for their thoughts on this. Any insight is appreciated.

1) What problem does Twitter solve? Some of the best startups are created around specific solutions to specific problems. Twitter is a non-specific solution to a whole host of problems. It is used differently by different kinds of people. So ... what problem does it really solve? Or is there no specific problem here, and we just have a communal itch that we want to scratch that the Twitter format helps?

2) YC tells its applicants: 'make something people want'. But while Twitter does make something people want, it's not clear what that is. Could Twitter be an example of stumbling, by pure accident, into something people want? Does this imply that there is no way to intentionally create a company like Twitter?

3) Why is Twitter so successful? Twitter seems to be the only company with no clear value proposition (I'm not saying there's no value - I'm just saying that it's hard to explain what that value is to a non-Twitter user); also it seems to be one of the few startups that can get away with producing a generalized platform as its main product. Wave didn't. Why did Twitter succeed where Wave did not?

Thoughts, ideas, and observations are all welcomed.

Re: Ask HN: Why did Twitter succeed?

#2

Post by mikecane » Sat, Aug 07, 2010, 8:45 PM UTC

You must be new to the online world. Twitter is not new. It just brought what existed before to the Internet itself easily: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cb_simulator

The CompuServe marketers hated that service. They saw no reason for CompuServe to have it or to promote it. Meanwhile, back then, the online world was based on per-hour connect time charges and there were people who had bills of over a thousand dollars a month just from using that part of CompuServe.

Re: Ask HN: Why did Twitter succeed?

#3

Post by soren_dahl » Sat, Aug 07, 2010, 8:58 PM UTC

mikecane wrote: post #2

You must be new to the online world. Twitter is not new. It just brought what existed before to the Internet itself easily: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cb_simulator The CompuServe marketers hated that service. They saw no reason for CompuServe to have it or to promote it. Meanwhile, back then, the online world was based on per-hour connect time charges and there were people who had bills of over a thousand dollars a…

So, maybe we can say one of the reasons that Twitter succeeded was that marketing was taken out of the hands of CompuServe marketers and their like and put the hands of bloggers and such?

Re: Ask HN: Why did Twitter succeed?

#4

Post by tptacek » Sat, Aug 07, 2010, 9:07 PM UTC

It's a social and sociable take on the problem RSS was intended to revolutionize but hasn't really delivered on. Its only ideological conceit, of 140 character messages, actually simplifies the user experience and keeps the "communities" that form there on the rails. "Chat" is arguably one of the "stickiest" and most compelling applications of the Internet, and Twitter delivers a chat-like experience with huge numbers of people that manages to be both non-ephemeral (IM and IRC conversations disappear forever as soon as they end) and (therefore) discoverable.

I don't believe for a second that Twitter realized any of this when they started; like so many good things on the Internet, Twitter's benefits are emergent, not planned.

Wave is what you get when you try to catalog all the possible benefits of Twitter and plan a product to deliver those benefits.

Re: Ask HN: Why did Twitter succeed?

#5

Post by tptacek » Sat, Aug 07, 2010, 9:10 PM UTC

mikecane wrote: post #2

You must be new to the online world. Twitter is not new. It just brought what existed before to the Internet itself easily: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cb_simulator The CompuServe marketers hated that service. They saw no reason for CompuServe to have it or to promote it. Meanwhile, back then, the online world was based on per-hour connect time charges and there were people who had bills of over a thousand dollars a…

I had a CompuServe account but never spent much time on CB. I have been on chats, from Renegade BBS's on to IRC on to IM, for 20+ years. Twitter is not simply chat; it admits to persistant and semantically meaningful applications layered on top of it.

It's like a weird cross between NNTP and IRC, as I see it.

Re: Ask HN: Why did Twitter succeed?

#6

Post by hartard » Sat, Aug 07, 2010, 9:23 PM UTC

Back when I used AOL/AIM in high school there was an explosive adoption of "always on" internet services such as DSL and cable. During this time, it became fashionable for teens to express their current emotions/actions/likes as their "Away Messages" on AIM, which was something new compared with the limitations their previous dial-up connections. I'd go as far to say these messages were the precursor to services like LiveJournal.

Since college, with the mass adoption of social networks, I would guess that 95% of all my friends no longer use independent chat services, like AIM.

I see twitter as the next iteration of "Away Messages" - or, what they now call status updates.

Personally, I dislike Twitter for my personal use. I think it is a fascinating way for brands to sell products to unsuspecting consumers, but there is no value as a standalone "Away Message" platform... that would be the job of something like Facebook status updates, since all of my friends are already connected on there.

As for how it grew? It both filled the need for people to continually express themselves and that other really important thing... celebrity endorsements.

Re: Ask HN: Why did Twitter succeed?

#7

Post by qeorge » Sat, Aug 07, 2010, 9:26 PM UTC

Solved a real problem: sending text messages to a group.

Later, it allowed people to get semi-personal access to people they admire.

Re: Ask HN: Why did Twitter succeed?

#8

Post by mvalente » Sat, Aug 07, 2010, 9:36 PM UTC

Early adoption was due to it being an extension to the IM Away messages. After that, especially after users started to use @x as a form of addressing, it basically became IRC 2.0, without the problems of installing IRC clients, having netsplits, being kicked, etc, etc.

-- MV

Re: Ask HN: Why did Twitter succeed?

#9

Post by ehsanul » Sat, Aug 07, 2010, 9:38 PM UTC

soren_dahl wrote: post #3

mikecane wrote: post #2

You must be new to the online world. Twitter is not new. It just brought what existed before to the Internet itself easily: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cb_simulator The CompuServe marketers hated that service. They saw no reason for CompuServe to have it or to promote it. Meanwhile, back then, the online world was based on per-hour connect time charges and there were people who had bills of over a thousand dollars a…

So, maybe we can say one of the reasons that Twitter succeeded was that marketing was taken out of the hands of CompuServe marketers and their like and put the hands of bloggers and such?

NYT, Oprah and various celebrities did play a significant role in marketing Twitter in their later stages of high growth.

Re: Ask HN: Why did Twitter succeed?

#10

Post by yanilkr » Sat, Aug 07, 2010, 9:39 PM UTC

A Lot of people feel a need to say something and many feel a need to be heard. Twitter was a good solution, because it limited how much one can say. I doubt it was planned, But it seemed to have satisfied some psychological needs.