The Trouble with Twitter TV

"Only Twitter TV Can Save Twitter."  The headline popped up on my feedly, and as an avid tweeter and follower of many tweeters myself, I had to read it.  "Save Twitter?" I was confused from the get-go.  From my understanding, twitter was doing just fine.  In fact, from Ashley's post, I learned that Twitter has found new ways to monetize itself and increase its profits.

I continued to read the article and found that the main issue that twitter was facing was engaging new users and expanding their user base.  They had anticipated a 400 million user base by the end of 2013, but it ended the year with only 241 million.  So how do they fix the problem?  The author of the article suggests "Twitter TV."

Twitter TV would allow non-users to get a glimpse inside of Twitter.  The concept is best described by television: "When a premium channel on your cable network wants more subscribers, it typically runs a free weekend where every single cable subscriber can view the once-hidden channel. You get to see what they're offering, and some people subscribe as a result."  

Twitter TV would allow for interested individuals to view and subscribe to public tweets without an account.  They could filter through topics and view the latest tweets without being an actual user.  If they wanted to share a certain tweet or create their own content, they would then register for their own twitter account.

While at surface level this seems like an easy fix, I do not believe it would be an effective catalyst in increasing the number of users.  It will certainly draw more people to explore twitter, which may potentially sway them into creating twitter accounts, but I'd imagine that many users would simply check their public feed for the latest updates.  I think that if people want to create their own content or share other's content, they probably already have accounts and would see no need for this public resource.  

In addition, what I particularly like about twitter is the ability to personalize my own feed.  I get to choose what I want to see and when I want to see it.  I can connect with family, friends, businesses, and concepts that  I'm interested in.  I can see what my best friend had for dinner, what workout a fitness account recommends for the day, and what's the latest news update on CNN.  This intimate element of twitter is really what makes twitter different than other media tools.  Having a "public feed" would eliminate the personal component of the network and in my opinion, take away from twitter's main highlight. 

On the other hand, the public feed of Twitter TV may have potential as a news and advertising source.  This may be something to consider in expanding twitter's reach in the future.  However, this may be a flop with the uprise of other companies strategizing to incorporate news in their networks.  Could Twitter TV compete?    Facebook paper anyone?