A few more people are noticing Hurricane Twitter on the horizon. These are two very respected opinions in the business of social media. These forecasts are to be reckoned with.
First up David Armano weighs in on his Logic + Emotion blog: Will Twitter See An "Oprah Effect", Or Is Influence Overrated?
"Twitter has spread almost entirely from word of mouth, leading to press coverage but it's only been recently that we've seen true #1's (the Oprahs of the word) begin to adopt the service furthering it's exposure.
This is when influence could potentially create a perfect storm. Great numbers of "lower level" influencers can of course create a movement, and when combined with even just a few "higher level" influencers who have access to communication platforms—a critical mass of awareness and influence can be reached. This is where Twitter finds itself at the moment. It has millions of "everyday people" who love it and evangelize on behalf of the service. It also has thousands of highly connected people doing the same. And it's now entering a phase where hundreds of incredibly visible and internationally known personalities are joining the ranks."
This is when influence could potentially create a perfect storm. Great numbers of "lower level" influencers can of course create a movement, and when combined with even just a few "higher level" influencers who have access to communication platforms—a critical mass of awareness and influence can be reached. This is where Twitter finds itself at the moment. It has millions of "everyday people" who love it and evangelize on behalf of the service. It also has thousands of highly connected people doing the same. And it's now entering a phase where hundreds of incredibly visible and internationally known personalities are joining the ranks."
A more statistics based take from Mashable's Stan Schroeder: The Web in Numbers: The Rise of Social Media
"According to Nielsen, Twitter currently has 7 million unique monthly visitors. If it keeps growing at this rate, it’ll have nearly 100 million visitors same time next year."
Only time will tell, but it's certainly looking like those clouds are forming into a superstorm.
Where do you think Twitter will be in a year from now growth-wise? More importantly, what are doing to prepare for it?
