Re: Why Twitter Doesn't Grow
@BenParr just posted this article on Mashable, and his timing could not have been more interesting considering the social experiment I tried Sunday. 
Why is Twitter not growing Ben? Because its value has not been established in the public's eye. Sure, as marketers we understand the value of knowing what people are thinking IRT (in real time); it's INCREDIBLE!
However, like walking into a party and knowing no one - Twitter can make people uncomfortable. I myself did not join twitter for personal use until June of 2009. Why? Because in my mind, Twitter was a completely pointless feed filled with spam, and random status updates on people I didn't really care about. The Twitter suggested users were all "celebrities" and various news organizations that I did not have any desire to know about, nor was there any engagement on their part.
My mantra now is, I tweet therefore i am. Amazing what 7 months and 6,125 tweets can do to a person. On Sunday, I was stranded in Vegas. I believe so much in social media as a whole, and especially Twitter - that I posted only on Twitter, and livestreamed on Ustream my plea for a ride home. I knew if I had posted on Facebook that someone would have been able to assist my needs in getting back to LA, but Facebook's value has already been established in people's mind.
What ended up happening? A whole lot. A Ustreamer was able to track down a friend of his who had two cars going back to LA. The awesome part of that? I knew his friend - he was an old acquaintance. Someone who was not at all on my radar screen as being even a possibility for transportation. What are the odds that this person would in fact know someone that I knew? Greater than you would think.
Unfortunately in the end our mutual friend was not able to assist, as his car ended up being full. However, I did make it back to LA today in a socially acceptable way ... a tweeter DMed me a bus company that charged only $30 for its service. The cheapest bus route I had found was $54. My ride from the bus depot in downtown LA, to my car in Bel Air came from a Facebook posting.
An interesting thing to note is that after I wrapped my broadcast on Ustream, the bellhop came up to me and inquired as to what I was doing. I explained that I was using Twitter and Ustream to get me back to LA. His reply was classic: "wow, that twitter thing works?"
People have been talking about twitter, but marketing is only deemed good if it establishes value and relevance for the end user. Twitter needs to come up with a marketing campaign of its own encouraging engagement outside of #FollowFriday. #FF is great, but again - why do you care if someone is suggested to you as someone cool to follow?