Twitter is considering dropping hashtags and the @ symbol reports Business Insider.
Such a move, which would enrage the services’ loyal user base, is aimed at trying to spark the interest of inactive users after the company reported a lower than expected active user number in last quarter’s earnings report.
Twitter’s user number have stalled with sign ups being an anemic 4% and the vast bulk of its registered accounts are inactive — if the service is to have credibility as a competitor against Facebook then it’s going to have a lot stronger growth.
Comparing the service though to Facebook may be a mistake though, the two platforms being very different making facile comparisons between them dangerous.
There’s also the problem that Twitter seems to be locked into an older advertising industry model; the company is obsessed about piggy backing upon television and big sporting events.
It’s akin to nineteenth Century blacksmiths deciding the motor car was nothing more than a good way to deliver horseshoes.
There is always the possibility that the ways of advertising on social media isn’t as lucrative as the broadcast industry. If may be that Twitter just isn’t worth what the stockmarket thinks it is.
If Twitter does drop the # and the @ symbols what will happen to all our previous posts? What will happen to all these tags we created and how will we search topics with ease in future?
Thank you.