Social
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Twitter Lightning, Twitter’s Communication Problem, Buzzfeed’s New News App
Word is out about Lightning, a new Twitter feature that lets people dip in and out of current events. It’s a great move. The question, though, is why talk about it now? The timing highlights a big communication problem. Also, BuzzFeed News’ new app, and the importance of notifications to its future monetization.
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Dick Costolo Out as Twitter CEO, Costolo’s Key Shortcoming, Twitter’s Next CEO
Dick Costolo is out as Twitter’s CEO, a shocking but unsurprising outcome. This update examines why he had to go, as well as why this week’s Twitter product announcements expose the biggest shortcoming of his tenure. Finally, I examine the necessary qualities for Twitter’s next CEO and who might make sense.
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Daum Kakao Buys Path, Amazon’s Funnel, More from Mary Meeker
Messaging apps are great examples of the power of funnels, and of how difficult they are to build. Meanwhile, Amazon expands and leverages theirs, plus my five favorite Mary Meeker slides.
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Google Launching Buy Button, Instagram’s E-Commerce Possibilities, Pinterest’s Challenges
This daily update analyzes the news that Google will launch a buy button for some mobile searches, and in that context moves to a discussion of e-commerce on Instagram and Pinterest.
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Cisco’s Results — and Future, Tencent’s Advertising Shift
Today’s update discusses how Cisco has seemingly responded to the threat of software-based networking, but why the future is more cloudy than outgoing CEO John Chambers thinks. Then, Tencent is slowly diversifying their business model, and it’s a big opportunity.
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Verizon-AOL, Facebook Instant Articles, and the Future of Digital Advertising
Two seemingly unrelated stores — Verizon buying AOL. and Facebook offering publishers the option of Instant Articles — are actually very much connected: advertising online is undergoing a fundamental shift, and while there will be a few big winners, there will be a lot more losers.
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Podcast: Exponent 044 – Up in the Clouds with Twitter
On the newest episode of Exponent, the podcast I co-host with James Allworth: In this week’s episode James and I discuss why Twitter needs new leadership, its massive potential, and why Google probably should acquire it Links Ben Thompson: Twitter Needs New Leadership – Stratechery Ben Thompson: Twitter’s Marketing Problem – Stratechery Ben Thompson: Facebook and…
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Twitter Needs New Leadership
Yesterday Twitter released very disappointing quarterly results, with misses on both user and revenue growth. From the Wall Street Journal: Twitter Inc. delivered its weakest quarterly revenue growth as a publicly traded company, casting a shadow on its fledgling advertising business, which until now has been a consistent bright spot. Investors, who sent the company’s stock…
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Daily Update: Facebook Earnings, Google Launches Project Fi
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Twitter and What Might Have Been
Twitter’s blog is generally a cheery place, with one big exception from 2012: the innocuously named Changes Coming in Version 1.1 of the Twitter API, and in particular, the section called “Changes to the Developer Rules of the Road” that attempted to put the kibosh on 3rd-party Twitter clients:1 If you are building a Twitter client…