There have been a few polls asking if users of Twitter would pay for it if it went to be fee-based service. More recently Guy Kawasaki posted a poll on his blog and to my surprise 50% of the pollers said they WOULD pay for Twitter. My question is WHY??? Why on earth would you even consider paying for a service like this? Look, Twitter is a fun place to be (well, at least it used to be – the climate has changed, but I’ll save that for another post) and yes, majority of your online friends are on it, but why in the hell would you pay for a service you don’t really need?
Last time I checked instant messenging was still free and services like ooVoo, Skype, Gizmo5 and iChat have instant messengnig built-in and it’s all free as well. Just seems downright ridiculous to pay for Twitter. It’s almost like me paying to talk; as if you couldn’t if you didn’t pay.
Now, let me make it perfectly clear, I am NOT against paying for web services, but I am more inclined to pay for services that actually matter and make a difference in my daily workflow and productivity habits. For instance, Basecamp, Getsignoff, HiRise are apps that I would pay for. They are all well worth the money, but more importantly, these apps are making a difference by allowing me to run my business better by staying organized and communicating more effectively with my clients. Now, that’s worth some money.
I like Twitter and all, but if it ever becomes a fee-based service; that’ll be the day I leave the world of Twitter.
