04 Twitter

How big is Twitter Launched 5 years ago 200 million users raised about $360m in capital, including a last round of $200m, on a $3.7bn valuation Revenue per user : $0.25 vs. $3 for Facebook

But…. Since 18 months, traffic has been flat. Time spent is eroding. March 2011: 12 mn 37 sec vs. 14 mn 6 sec per user in March Facebook more than 6 hours spent per month 10% of all users account for 90% of the twits

Dick Costolo Twitter CEO 6A0723D63F92 6A0723D63F92

Twitter is important for news a)It is an effective promotional tool for value- added stories b)It allows reporters to actually pinpoint their most loyal audience – and establish a relationship with it c)It doesn’t kill value like RSS feeds.

Example: the Bin Laden coverage 4-4:30pm — 79 Navy Seals raid Osama Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

7:24pm — A former Navy intelligence officer name Keith Urbahn, currently Donald Rumsfeld’s chief of staff (we all discovered the former Defense secretary indeed has one) shot this tweet:Keith Urbahn

Within one minute Keith Urbahn’s shout was retweeted 80 times. Including by New York Times’ media reporter Brian Stelter. Another minute later, the original tweet had multiplied by 300, triggering instant global speculation.Brian Stelter

9:46pm — The White House communication staff on duty sends a three word “Get to work” to the press corps. At the same time, Dan Pfeiffer, the White House official serial twitterer sends the following:

10:40pm – As Barack Obama is still working on his speech, and after frantic phone calls to verify the story, the Times’ national security team and its Washington bureau decide to run a one line mention of Bin Laden’s Death. Ten minutes later, the website shows this:

10:45pm – All three TV networks interrupt their programming and break the news. 11:30pm – President Obama speaks live from the White House million viewers watch his address. 12:45am (May 2nd) — The East Coast edition of the New York Times closes. It contains a 10 pages section titled “The Death of Bin Laden” (NYT’s editor Bill Keller decided to drop the “Mr.”).

Observation #1: Twitter is king. A well-connected, politically driven staffer leaks the news first. No one knew Keith Urbahn before (see his profile in New York Observer), but his Twitter ID gave him credibility; for his Twitter followers, his post immediately raised a red flag: Rummy’s aide would not compromise his boss by leaking false information.his profile

Between 9:46pm EST and Obama's address at 11:30pm : 15 m Tweets exchanged

Observation #2: As notions, “edition” and deadline are dead. The leaders of the news pack took the straightforward option: dump everything on the internet, as fast as you can and without regard for closing deadlines.

Impact on newspapers' editorial strategy Relying on: – Exclusive – Expertise – Value added – Journalistic firepower

2300 words 8 bylines

Practical set up a twitter feeds list to cover…

Twitter is less pernicious than search

Eli Pariser Pioneering online organizer Eli Pariser is the author of "The Filter Bubble," about how personalized search might be narrowing our worldview. TED video here :