Twitter has becoming a very happening thing to do in society. You cant escape the twitter craze whether you are a teenager constantly tweeting or simply watching TV hearing "follow this [@fillinblank] on twitter". Twitter went through an approximate 6month waiting period to go public. This is huge for the company. In this process they are getting their net worth and setting fluctuating prices for the stock market. The price went up about $5 in just one week. The information is constantly changing. Twitter is also in fear of what happened in the Facebook "debacle". This whole process is nerve racking for any company even though a failed IPO does not seal a company's fate. Although other social networking sites have seen trouble, I feel as if Twitter is different. (Myspace is basically nonexistent and facebook took about a year to bounce back). Twitter is more intact with this instant source of information kinda of world we live in than other social networking sites. People are constantly giving updates on their lives and following is like the new exchange of phone number. It has also "definitely contributed to the acceleration of the news process and helped to expand the availability of information sources to a wide range of people." Twitter sees revenue from advertising and has seen so much expansion outside the United States. It is so much different than other sites which relates to the immediate success in the website's public debut.
These articles have also brought up another very interesting aspect about economies. I am no economist, but was very intrigued by the power of consumer laid out in these articles. Everything is worth how much consumers are willing to spend. It is exactly how markets are created and the principle behind the supply and demand curve. No company will truly no how much its worth until it goes public and then the companies will see exactly how much people are willing to pay for their stocks.
It does seem that people tend to forget that people forget that we are the price setters doesn't it? It's almost like market democracy, where every dollar we are willing to put toward a good is like a vote on its popularity and therefore the more popular something is then the more it will cost.
ReplyDeleteMy question is when will consumerism lead to the advancement of another site similar yet "better" in the eyes of consumers? I'm wondering about the capitalist approach to this and who will be the next to find a new way to appease the consumer and exploit the advertising profits that come with it? That is what makes a great free membership based company and that is seemingly why twitter stocks have been set so high.
ReplyDeleteInformation is changing every week and its hard to keep up with. I just want to know what will end up happening with Twitter. Twitter went through a six month waiting period and now will probably have to wait longer, but many other people are waiting too. I am eager to find out what will end up happening and a few weeks or months is only building my anxiousness. I agree with you Tyler, I would also like to see what "new" social media pops up next and which one will get the money. It is strange and crazy Jose. Its almost like people are just throwing out their money as votes to increase the popularity of something they like, but like you said, lets not forget who is feeding them the money. It will be an interesting event to see, and I hope Twitter the best.
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed true that the way markets ultimately work is that prices are only ever a reflection of what people are willing to pay. There is really nothing more to the process than that. I find that even people who think of themselves as die-hard capitalists tend to become very uncomfortable about this idea. Certainly this was one of Marx's main criticisms--that exchange value, the value that something trades for, has no rooting in fundamental utility. Ultimately, though, there is an anchor for every commodity or asset. In the case of stocks, it is the earnings of a company. Interestingly, gold is probably the one asset that has the least linkage to any fundamental valuation, and this commodity was for Marx the purest representative of exchange value. Twitter, though, in its early release, comes close in some ways.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely too early to tell, but I think that Twitter is unique and will continue to be successful. Perhaps it will need to evolve with time, but I don't see any competitors becoming more popular than Twitter.
ReplyDelete