Joy of Tech has a wonderfully funny comic since the rumor is always there that somebody (Read: Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, whatever) is going to buy Twitter.

So I woke up and today there have been talks about Google acquiring Twitter. I hope that it is not true.

Scobleizer says don’t do it, and I say please don’t do it.

Because it won’t be the first time Google acquired something “Social Networking” and screwed it up. A few examples:

(1) Google’s shot at the social network thing “Orkut“, didn’t take off. Of course Orkut was done in Orkut’s 20% time, and Orkut is an engineer from Google, so if you are devoting 20% of your time in Orkut, and 80% of your time making money for Google, its another thing. Orkut is of course popular with Brazilian teenagers, but who else remembers Orkut?

(2) Then Google tried its hand at acquiring Dodgeball, which actually feels a little like Twitter, then shut it down but that was before the founders left because Google “didn’t fit into what they wanted Dodgeball to go”

(3) Google acquired Blogspot, the wonderful invention of Evan Williams who incidentally is also heading the Twitter team. After he left Google. Then Google didn’t do anything about it. And then all over the world, came wordpress, typepad, livejournal, and the works.

Do you even know what is Google Friend Connect????

… I could name a couple more but thats not the point.

The point is. Twitter is now a hot topic because it has become a thing for business. Imagine I’m at the Pizzeria across the street, and it has this great new wonderful “Bacon topped pizza with special duck sauce”. It is fantastic. I twitter my friends, who are on on my Twitter follow list, along with some internet marketing spammers, some tech guy who blogs and you kind of get the idea. Some tens of thousands of people on my (imaginary) list reads it, and the next hour ten people who live near me, go visit the Pizzeria with the wonderful pizza. Of course similarly, the Pizzeria, is on Twitter. And “Jack Batwing #pizza” searches for “Jack Batwing pizza” to know that this pizza is so well-received that it should be a permanent fixture on their menu.

And because Twitter is accessible from EVERYWHERE – mobile phone, iPhone, Internet, IM, whatever. It makes it all the more easier for someone to microblog.

So scale the pizza example hundreds of thousands of times over. And there you have it. An easy way to know about reviews. Straightaway.

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Of course you need to get the user addicted first.

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So thats the point. And that’s not just the point. Twitter recently added search. And a gazillion people searching within Twitter has naturally made Google… afraid. So Twitter has the ability to be huge. Big. Insanely Great for businesses as a sideline to just being just a spammer sort of thingy.

And thats why I’m afraid. Because lets just look at the Business Model of Google. And social networks. Sure, social networks attract a ton of users. And social network is also a “fabulous” buzz word which marketers use. But users do not necessary translate to money. For now, if I want to buy an eBook, the first thing I’ll go-to is Google Search. There are a gazillion of Ads next to where I’m searching, sure. And I might click on one of those ads, and it might cost the advertiser one buck and Google of course gets a fraction of that. Do you go “into” your social network like FaceBook to check out the eBook? Most likely the majority of the people ain’t going to do that. Our social network is for friends. And friends are great because we are more likely to trust a friend before I buy something. But the point is: Where does it all tie in?

And thats also probably the reason why Google has so often neglected the social networks it has acquired. So we have Blogger. Where do you want to put the ads? Okay, so now we have a ton of people using Blogger, and there is this tiny search bar on the top to “search”. Where does the ads come in? And back to the same point: Where does it all tie in?

So yes. So there comes my point. Google is a great engineering company, they have brought the desktop to the web, and should continue to do so. I love their search, email, chrome and documents. But they ain’t doing so well in Social Networks, and it would sux if they entired the Twitter space, then realised that due to people not going in there “TO BUY”. In fact, most Twitter update systems ain’t for buying – do you see ads appearing in Twitter widgets on people’s blog? Twitter ads in Twitterific or Tweetdeck? Twitter ads to your mobile phone? I mean that would well, sux. And if you sux, you will lose the users which was the first point in the first place.

So, I think that Google should not acquire Twitter. Twitter should look for a different business model, because chances are, Google will screw this up if they realize that the money isn’t coming in from Twitter and then they direct their engineers to something else. And you’re realize that Twitter, the hottest thing in 2007/8/9, has become the has-been in 2010.

I have some idea of a business model, but hey, we can’t let the post run too long can we? (Of course it would be kind of funny to know what would happen to this design guy if he did end up working back at Google-Twitter)

WHAT IS TWITTER???

Twitter is just about telling people what you are doing. To whoever is interested!

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This post is for my mom, and anyone else who is interested. I went something like:

Summer goes: “Mom if you want to know what’s happening to me all day you should check out Twitter”

She goes: “What is it?”

So, yeah, what is Twitter anyway, and why is everyone (in America at least) suddenly Twittering?

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For the record, my Twitter account is VERY OLD. 31 months old actually. Its a long story on how I got into it but there was a time when I posted I stayed on the public timeline for more than 5 minutes because nobody was on Twitter. I’m also the second person in the Netherlands who is on Twitter. Crazy isn’t it! 31 months ago I didn’t even know I would be in the Netherlands.

I got onto Twitter more lately because it was convenient to do so from the iPod Touch or iPhone if you wish. And I realized that there was somehow 100 over people who added me and I didn’t know about me.

Suddenly it was more convenient because I could do it ANYWHERE. For FREE.

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So for the sake of my mom, I’ve decided to dig up two very informative videos on Twitter-ing (to let everyone know what you are doing)

This one explains what Twitter is all about.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o]

The second is what happens when Twitter takes over your life.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN2HAroA12w]

But what I like most about Twitter is that it is NOT Facebook. I don’t really like all the ads and superpokes and gazillion weird requests which one sends when one accepts a Facebook app. It’s crazy! Not only do I NOT appreciate the superpokes, I think its a total waste of time navigating some stupid application. And now Facebook has revamped its frontpage to look like Twitter. Right.

Could write more, but if I do, my mom would lose me. And there are in-depth surveys and studies on Twitter and its many new kind of applications out there like TwitPic, FollowMe, etc

So… twitter me mom! I’m here at Summerrainx!

How to get money from Twitter… Yes I know, its so annoying but I’ve gone back to Twitter for goodness knows what reason.

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I’m getting sick so just enjoy the comic!

Read here: Grappig.