Comments on: Nationalize Twitter? Hmm, not so fast

A lot of chatter recently that Twitter has become vital to our daily lives--with some suggesting it to a question of national security.

[mjconver]

Huh? Talk about self-absorption. Twitter is just more noise that makes you think your life is more important than it really is. It could disappear tomorrow and 99.99% of the world (yes, that's accurate, do the math) wouldn't even notice.

[Matthew_Maurice]

I had to check the by-line on this article just to make sure it didn't say April 1. While Twitter may be indispensable to 13 year-old girls and Robert Scoble the idea that its platform is relevant to National Security in any way is laughable.

[forensicmeteoboy]

I agree with Matthew... Twitter really isn't all that cool outside a small amount of teens and some so-called tech people.

How about they build a platform on something reliable (eg. not Ruby), have multiple redundant servers nationwide, etc.

In all honesty, they need a plan to make money. How about that? A business without a plan to make money. Is that really what you base your life around? C'mon CNet guys and girls... it's really not as big you think. Sorry.

[charlie cooper]

ouch. a bit harsh, don't you think? i'm not making over-the-top predictions about twitter's impact on tech but it's a fascinating story and we're still in the early innings. fwiw, i first heard this ayem about the china quake on twitter. there's now a thread on techmeme about this and i think dan's also writing on this...

[rapier1]

No, its not harsh. Its a realistic assessment about the true worth of the product. Twitter has some appeal to people who are tethered to cellphones and computers but a large number of people just don't care that much. Really. They don't. People in the tech field think they do but if you get outside of that echo chamber you'll find that the real potential for the market isn't there.

[Jimm1]

What's twitter? That's the response of more than 3/4 of the US population. IT is a small world that thinks it is THE world. Get real, people.

[mvaiks]

That's what I was about to ask: what is Twitter? Never heard of it... much less its importance.

[pieterjansegers]

The importance of Twitter and other microblogs is their function as instant global mass media. Creating real global awareness and 'glocality'.

Like any news is of importance to the stock markets, it's indeed vital to know the news as fast as possible. Within less than 5 minutes any event wordwide can be covered by microblogs, even radio can't do any better.

The automated information of express postal services are liked by anyone of us; now simular things are possible for all kinds of information.

I liked twitter right away and I'm now using microblogs all over the globe to share information I find usefull.

Twitter, Zuosa, Fanfou, Khaces, Dukudu.de, Meemi, Niimo, Smspr.ru, Blip.pl, Gozub, Noumba, Komoo.cn, Tapioka.ca, Cirip.ro, Tiish, Playtalk.net, Numpa.nl, ...