Hot of the presses: Twitter raises $35M in funding!
As reported on the Twitter Blog:
Twitter is growing at a phenomenal rate. Active users have increased 900% in a year and even though our web traffic is amazing, we see twice that traffic to the APIs. Interacting with Twitter over SMS is also getting more popular every day. Our relatively small team of 29 employees has accomplished quite a bit lately but it’s obvious that we have the world ahead of us.
I know that people are getting tired of the relentless Twitter coverage in the online technology press–even in the mainstream media. But the hype–and even Twitter’s lack of a sustainable revenue model–don’t seem to be impeding Twitter’s very real growth. They’ll have to grow up someday, but I wouldn’t be quick to short on them. $35M may well keep them going long enough for them to figure out what they want to be when they grow up.
And, hey, I’m not just an observer, I’m also a user.
The Noisy Channel 
4 replies on “$35M Is Nothing To Tweeze At”
Seems like Twitter is at the point now that Facebook was, say, three years ago.
Growth didn’t really help Facebook; it’s not making any money. What does that say for Twitter?
I have a question: How much money would Facebook and/or Twitter make, if they charged everyone $2.50/month for service. That comes out to $30/year.
Are we so addicted to advertising, that something like Facebook or Twitter is not worth $30/year to us? Heck, I’d pay it.
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I’m certainly at a point where I’d consider paying for rather than losing Twitter and LinkedIn. Facebook I barely use even when it’s free!
But yeah, people really love free. So these services probably need to transition to freemium rather than an all-paid model, or they’ll lose their critical mass of users.
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Hrmph. People love free the same way they love fast food. Cheap and delicious, but ultimately bad for you.
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Well, I do like free as in “it’s a free country”, so I wouldn’t want to legislate against fast food and ad-supported models. I just hope that, even in a libertarian world, there’s a path to an outcome that is Pareto-optimal for everyone but the advertisers.
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