, Columnist
Twitter Needs to Accept a Scaled-Back Reality
It may have all the users it’s going to get, which requires a change in revenue mindset.
A little less conversation.
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
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The hyped Twitter “recovery” has derailed.
The company’s second-quarter financial report showed that the number of people using Twitter has stagnated and will decline, although the company said that’s at least in part because of intentional decisions to clean up its cesspool. Revenue growth, particularly in Twitter Inc.’s vital U.S. advertising market, is tepid for what was billed as a growth phase. Revenue gains may slow significantly in the third quarter, based on the company’s forecast. Twitter’s (accounting-massaged) profit margins are wimpy.