Twitter: Pipe-dream or next big thing?

Twitter: Pipe-dream or next big thing?
8 million users can't be wrong. If only it made some money.

(breakingviews.com) -- What's the big deal with Twitter? The online instant update service has become a media sensation and a supposed target for the likes of Google and Facebook. But is it an over-hyped flash in the pan or a real business opportunity? The answer could be a bit of each.
Twitter lets people or organizations send messages to "followers" - fans, clients, employees or anyone who signs up. The updates, thoughts or reactions arrive instantly via cell phone or computer updates. They're limited to 140 characters each, so pithiness is vital. (All but one of the sentences in this article qualify.)

Twitter's 8 million users run the gamut from lovelorn teenagers to celebrities like Britney Spears to the New York Times. The last of these has more than 500,000 followers receiving its story links and news updates. Some members of the U.S. Congress use Twitter to fill in their constituents. A few have even been spotted tapping away on their mobile phones in the middle of President Barack Obama's speeches.
The celebrity presence has drawn millions of users and driven media attention, but it can seem pretty inane. British actor Stephen Fry has 382,000 followers tracking updates of his peculiar daily minutiae. One example: "Me in a sarong. The freedom and ease ... Mmmm could get to like x".

Social unrest is increasing

Social unrest is increasing in Europe


Saturday January 31
In this week we witnessed growing social unrest in Greece, France and the U.K.
Strikes, blockades, occasional riots and picket lines, it's a sign of the times.
Last month, it was only in Iceland and in Greece. As the recession is spreading, the housing market worsening and currencies dropping, people really begin to fear for their future, and tempers are getting shorter.
In the U.K. we noticed an increase in anti-European sentiment and strikes after remarks from the Britsh Prime Minister Gordon Brown about 'British Jobs for British Workers', Mr. Brown obviously likes to play with fire.

January was the worst month for the U.S. job market with a 100.000 job cuts in every sector of the industry. President Obama spoke out against the shameful bonus culture in Wallstreet. In general people in the banking sector and in high financial positions do not show much social responsibility.
In economic lesser times social unrest always increases and with the economy and politics globally intertwined the effects of social unrest show up sooner and stronger.
These are testing times for the old political elite, in 2009 we will see if they have inner wisdom and can keep their nerve.