News - Twitter aiming to raise $1 billion on stock market as TWTR

[HEXUS]

This is the most highly anticipated IPO since Facebook began its bumpy ride.

Read more.

[crossy]

Hmm, not that I'm a major user, (don't hold to these "having my breakfast", "going to work" type threads), but Twitter's become less and less relevant (/interesting) to me in the past couple of months. The (moronic) restrictions on the use of 3rd party clients (most of which were notably better than the official one) was the first straw, but I've been annoyed by an increasing amount of intrusive advert spam.

If it wasn't for the fact that it's a convenient way to get to some discussion sites then I think I'd close my account. G+ is more interesting to me these days - although the clients for that could do with a few usability tweaks here and there.

Needless to say I won't be rushing out to try and buy TWTR shares!

[Saracen]

....

Needless to say I won't be rushing out to try and buy TWTR shares!

Me neither, though not for the reason people might assume.

Anyone on here that knows me at all probably knows I'm no fan of social media sites like Twitter or FB. They bore me, offer me little to nothing I want, and are just a way for an American corporation to gain profiling data on me, which it is utterly inevitable will, sooner or later, be used for that "intrusive advert spam" you mentioned.

BUT .... just because I find the whole operation rather obnoxious in principle doesn't mean it hasn't been, and won't continue to be, wildly successful in getting people to use it.

So, my reasons for not buying shares are that, first, for me, it's just too much of a punt, and second, I don't invest in companies where I dislike the fundamental purpose of their business model. And it's a punt because while it MIGHT bring in a good return, it's got major problems to overcome in monetarising it's success, precisely because of that "intrusive advert spam" reaction, and because it's still possible that it could fall victim to the next, latest and greatest net innovation coming along and pulling the rug.

[Animus404]

I'm not a major user either, but I think twitter has gained the whole 'Just had a cup of coffee' reputation unfairly, when I bother to look at my feed I always find something interesting but then I don't really follow friends. It's way more interesting than something like Four Square 'Animus404 has just checked in to ASDA'

[Andrew McP]

I am way too antisocial to be fascinated by Facebook, and I'm not even gregarious enough for Google+. But as a late starter in social media I'm finding Twitter increasingly useful across a broad range of interests... even though the ramping up of adverts and promoted tweets is getting a bit more noticeable and tiresome. That's inevitable with any 'free' service though. I got used to the 4 second wait on YouTube and I'll get used to this.

Speaking of tweets, I hate that word. But I'd still be seriously tempted to sink some long term money into this IPO if there was a way to do it as with the Royal Mail floatation. But by the time the little guys get their hands on these shares much of the first year's gain will have been wrung out of them, so I'll sit back and wait for a later opportunity. I think this has potential long term... which is usually the kiss of death. I've made some really lousy decisions since opening a small trading account at the 2009 market lows.

My timing was perfect. My decision making, quite the opposite. :-)

[Big Adam]

Twitter?
Sh1tter

[Zerox]

It seems as though some of its users decided to have a go at buying some stocks.

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell...r-for-twitter/

[jim]

Thing is, more so than Facebook, Twitter has become so ingrained in everything people do these days. Every company seems to run tech support through Twitter, every journalist communicates through it. Sure, it'll go downhill sooner or later, but they've got an absolute vicegrip on the market right now.

With the right people advising them, I don't think it will be too difficult to monetise in the long run.

[Saracen]

... every journalist communicates through it. ....

Erm, not true .... says this journalist. Don't use it, never had an account, and don't plan on getting one.

Most journalists, though? Probably, yeah.

...

With the right people advising them, I don't think it will be too difficult to monetise in the long run.

Very possibly. I still won't invest, personally, in something where I find the way it will have to be monetarised so fundamentally offensive. To be clear, though, it's not Tweeting I find obnoxious (just largely boring), it's the monetarising through nosy and intrusive profiling to target adverts. I object to ANY company building a profile on me, period. And to ANY company targetting adverts at me, online or postal or whatever, for ANY purpose.

I don't doubt Twitter stands a decent chance of being successful. I would say, though, it's currently far from clear how good an investment it would be.


But even if I knew for certain I'd get a good return, personally, I'd no more invest in a company whose profits come from a practice I find so offensive, as I would invest in a south American drug cartel, or slavery.

[jim]

Erm, not true .... says this journalist. Don't use it, never had an account, and don't plan on getting one.

Most journalists, though? Probably, yeah.

I might have to add a disclaimer to my sig.

"Any generalisations in the above post are not intended to, and should not be considered to, apply to Saracen."

Very possibly. I still won't invest, personally, in something where I find the way it will have to be monetarised so fundamentally offensive. To be clear, though, it's not Tweeting I find obnoxious (just largely boring), it's the monetarising through nosy and intrusive profiling to target adverts. I object to ANY company building a profile on me, period. And to ANY company targetting adverts at me, online or postal or whatever, for ANY purpose.

I don't doubt Twitter stands a decent chance of being successful. I would say, though, it's currently far from clear how good an investment it would be.

But even if I knew for certain I'd get a good return, personally, I'd no more invest in a company whose profits come from a practice I find so offensive, as I would invest in a south American drug cartel, or slavery.

True for you, as of course it would be, but as I'm sure you'll agree, it probably won't affect the market in any great way. There are some incredibly odious companies out there making a lot of profit and attracting a lot of investment, and of all the world's ills Twitter probably come quite low on the list. I have no idea whether it's a good investment or not - I've no experience whatsoever of investments. And on that note, I didn't post my comment with the intention of changing people's minds, especially not yours. I've got other plans for my fingers and I'd like to keep them long-term

The broad point I was trying to make, in an overly-concise manner, is that I think sometimes as tech-y people we can be very pessimistic about technology. We might have objections, ethical or simply out of choice, but that's not what investment's about. We might think it's rubbish, or a poor use of time, but we're heavily outnumbered by normal human beings, and they're big Twitter/Facebook/Apple/whatever-we-all-hate-this-week fans. I can't abide Apple, and it's tough to acknowledge how successful they've been, but in terms of analysing investment opportunities it's important to sideline those emotions. When it comes to personal investments, of course we can all do whatever we want.

Personally, I would rather investment in something that had an amusing name than prop up Apple's stock. I wouldn't advise that though.

[Saracen]

I'm sure, Jim, that some people will invest in anything if it looks likely to return a good profit, obnoxious or not. And no, clearly me not investing isn't going to much damage Twitter's finances.

It's still unclear hiw successful Twitter will be in monetarising, though. They do have a tricky obstacle course to navigate, that being how to sell their product, that being access to Twitterers, without alienating those exact people. And if they can't square that, it could all collapse in a heap, especially if some new trend surplants Twitter.

Investers could be buying in to a hit future item, or they could lose every penny. It is not, I therefore suggest, one for the risk-averse.