Last week, for the first time in its history, Twitter showed no growth in the number of users who use the platform.

According to the company, 320 million users signed into the service at least once a month during the fourth quarter, which was the same as the previous quarter. When the news about the non-existent growth was announced, the stock plummeted 14% (but eventually ended the day down just 3%).

Are things really all that bad at Twitter? Or is this simply a case of over-inflated expectations?

Those are the questions I set out to answer when I took a deeper dive into the numbers. Here’s what I found.

• Twitter’s quarterly revenue rose 48% to $710.5 million thanks, in part, to the popularity of its video ads. 48% growth is nothing to sneeze at.

• At the end of January, user growth was actually up, which wasn’t reflected in the Q4 numbers that sent the stock tumbling in the first place.

• The company admits that there are some confusing aspects about the service. Twitter is working to fix those issues and to make the platform more user-friendly.

• Twitter also has some new features. One of them is called Moments, which is a new content curation tool to help users stay up-to-date on stories they’re interested in.

When you look at the financials behind the company, they don’t look so bad. After all, who wouldn’t be happy with growth that looks like this?

Screen Shot 2016-02-14 at 8.52.17 PM

 

All-in-all, there are some good things going on for Twitter, as reflected in some of the information mentioned above.

That said, there are some things going on with Twitter that are very troubling. Jack Dorsey, one of the founders of Twitter, jumped back on board the company in October. The problem is that he’s splitting his time between Twitter and Square, the other company he runs.

Yes, Steve Jobs ran Apple and Pixar at the same time for a short while, but there was only one Steve Jobs.

Perhaps that explains Dorsey’s misguided decision to eliminate the Twitter counts on the social sharing buttons across the web. Twitter says it was a cost-cutting measure, but it’s hard to believe that eliminating the primary metric publishers use to engage with the brand was a smart move at all.

So, are we witnessing the end of Twitter? Or is this just a blip?

For all the challenges Twitter is facing right now, this isn’t the end of the platform. Yes, they’re hitting a rough patch, but all companies face rough patches.

Will Twitter catch up to Facebook? No. But will it remain an important social media tool? Yes.

Will it ever make huge amounts of money? I don’t think so. That said, it will eventually make money, which bodes well for it’s long-term survival.

What all this means for you.

Here are a few random thoughts about what all this means for you:

Don’t jump ship: Twitter isn’t going anywhere. If you’re using it now, keep using it — you have a lot of people who are following your brand via Twitter, and you don’t want to leave them out in the cold.

Be realistic: For the foreseeable future, Twitter is going to be the 3rd, 4th or 5th most important arsenal in your social media toolbox — and that’s fine.

Test Twitter ads: Twitter has advertising functionality that’s worth testing (assuming you haven’t tested it already). I haven’t been blown away by the results, but that doesn’t mean it won’t work for you, so I’d recommend giving it a whirl for your brand.

The bottom line is that Twitter is a rock-solid platform that isn’t going anywhere soon. Is it the next Facebook? No. But is it a good, solid player in a very, very crowded field? Absolutely.

Does all that make sense for you? Do you have a better handle on the Twitter landscape and how it might impact your business? If I missed anything, let me know in the comments section below.

About the Author: Jamie Turner is an internationally-recognized author, speaker, and business thought-leader. You’ll find him on the 60 Second Marketer and occasionally as an expert commentator on CNN. He is the founder of SIXTY, a digital and mobile marketing firm working large and small corporations. He is also the founder of the Mobile X Festival, an un-conference for businesses that want to use mobile to grow their sales and revenues. 

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