Twitter: The little platform that could -- and did

Twitter, which surpassed its 10 billionth tweet on Thursday, is in a lot of ways the perfect example of how important having a social media strategy -- and a social media strategist -- is in the current digital climate.

Less than two years ago, Twitter was a roundly dismissed microblog that conjured images of people tweeting what they were planning to have for lunch. But it quickly became the little platform that could. Its simplicity became its beauty. The masses flocked to it, celebrities enhanced it, and businesses finally embraced it.

Now, it's an essential part of any content strategy. It's simply expected. Users demand social media today. The Web community puts a high premium on participation and Twitter has become the digital equivalent of the front porch. And that's a bigger leap than even the numbers -- from one billion tweets in 2008 to 10 billion tweets in just about a year -- indicate.


Twitter's growth also illustrates how the platforms on which digital strategies depend are evolving -- and how quickly they can evolve. It's why any strategic plan can't sit on a shelf once it's developed. It has to be monitored and updated by people who understand the landscape and the ongoing evolution.

As we’ve already seen in the shifts to Twitter and Facebook and YouTube, the platforms will change. But the conversation won’t. People want to engage.

Twitter hits 10 billion tweets {Mashable}

Water-Cooler Effect: Internet can be TV’s Friend {New York Times}

Comparing Twitter’s Growth to Facebook and Google {Silicon Alley Insider}

Twitter still headed to the moon {TechCrunch}