A few days ago I made some comparisons between Google+ and Facebook. Specifically, I talked about how Google+ has built in privacy features that Facebook doesn't and how that could change the social media game. But lately I've heard some comparisons between Google+ and Twitter.
In fact, some Google+ users are abandoning Twitter. Or replacing their Twitter profile links to drive traffic to their Google+ streams.
I've even read some A-list bloggers compare Twitter with Google+ and go so far as to say that Google+ could siphon traffic from Twitter. It got me to thinking.
Is Twitter old hat? Is it on the way out? We've seen stranger things. Remember MySpace?
First, I think Twitter still has value. For now. But there are some possibilities regarding its fate. Here are a few alternate Twitter realities if you'll indulge me.
- Twitter finally gives up and sells out to Google, who then turns around and merges the Twitter technology with Google+
- Twitter slowly declines into a niche social media tool aimed at the mobile market
- Twitter redefines itself and incorporates unheard of features that causes it to outpace both Google+ and Facebook, with the help of a few angel investors
- Rupert Murdoch gets cocky and offers an ungodly sum for Twitter, buys it, then destroys it and resells it for a loss
- Twitter gets hit with a Denial of Service of Attack by Anonymous and never recovers
OK, let's stop dreaming.
Some of these are too outlandish even for me. We can speculate about the future, but I think the best thing for marketers to do is to live in the present. It doesn't have to be Twitter OR Google+. Why can't it be both?