Twitter's latest efforts to define itself can be summed up in one word: Live. It was something that was not only uttered countless times during the company's Q1 2016 earnings call, but it has become something chief executive Jack Dorsey believes makes Twitter so special. So when a question came up about how Facebook's foray into live video and real-time conversations might affect Twitter, Dorsey responded by saying: “We've been doing it for 10 years.”
“We believe we have a leadership position in it,” he continued. “But it's not just about showing a live event, it's also about hosting a conversation around a live event. Twitter has always been the best place to see what's happening immediately, instantly, to bring people around a particular shared experience.”
“The easiest way to get what Twitter is is really to show a live event, show people the great accounts who are providing insights you can't find anywhere else, you can't find in your address book but you meet on Twitter through that experience, to connect them through a follow and also to encourage them in a conversation, that's what we're focused on making sure we continue to do,” Dorsey said.
As Twitter attempts to convince shareholders of Dorsey's strategic vision for the company he cofounded, it certainly won't be an easy one. Investor confidence in Twitter continues to drop - just look at its stock price after the earnings call. And what's more, Facebook is beating on its door with its own live offering. The social networking company has its own livestreaming service and recently opened up an API to extend it to third-party services and devices. Additionally, Facebook has delved into the live events with the launch of its Sports Stadium program which had been dominated by Twitter for some time.
Meanwhile Dorsey's promise for Twitter users is the capability to be among the first to know who won the Democratic presidential primaries, that a plane landed in the Hudson, the latest sports scores, or that SpaceX successfully landed a rocket on a platform in the middle of the ocean. It's all in real-time and in public, something that Dorsey thinks gives it an advantage over any competitor:
“Because we're public, and because we're distributed, and because we're simple, we're the fastest way to see the event, but it can go everywhere, so it can reach the 800 million audience that we continue to grow and continue to focus on, and then we're working on making sure we have the best experience out there and using technology appropriately to increase that experience and the enjoyment of the experience.”
This isn't the first time that Twitter has been defined by being about live and real-time conversations. Former CEO Dick Costolo once defined the service as being akin to a town square, and while this may be true to some degree today, it's a small town as people have flocked to more populated areas, specifically Facebook. But armed with products like Twitter Moments, Vine, and Periscope, Dorsey's team has the ability to woo back not only old users, but new ones with the promise of participating in a global conversation. A key effort to get growth going again is with Twitter's NFL Thursday Night football deal.
For all of the talk about Twitter being “live” for the past decade, it's time to make things happen. Facebook has more users than Twitter and incredible reach so there's a uphill battle to show that Twitter can really prove its “significant leadership position” in the space. And whether it's through more acquisitions or new features that provides users greater opportunities to share what's going on in the moment, it's time for Twitter to prove the live strategy is the key to Twitter's growth.
More information:
Twitter's Jack Dorsey on Facebook's move to live: 'We've been doing it for 10 years'
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