Why Twitter is a Ponzi Scheme
“Twitter is a Giant Ponzi Scheme” according to Joseph Jaffe.
Thinking there might be something in that I headed over to Slideshare to take a second look at a PowerPoint walkthrough of Ponzi schemes. Apparently this ppt was used to help a jury understand how Ponzi Schemes work.
Would a few minor changes show Twitter to be nothing but a giant Ponzi scheme?
See what you think…
Why Twitter Is A Ponzi Scheme
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27 April 2009, 10:42 amJake:
Great post Charlie. I agree with this sentiment. The way I usually think of it is that Twitter is essentially all the show-offs in the world talking to one another, led by Jonathan Ross. Using the Ponzi scheme as a backbone for the argument is far more elegant though!
27 April 2009, 12:59 pmAndy:
At the end of the day it still boils down to whether what your writing is interesting. If twitter writers share information that’s interesting then they may get a decent following. For others they simply follow as many users possible and hope that those users follow back in order to maintain a false perception of popularity.
Interesting post, but ironic that in a sense your a twitter critic that’s encouraging users to follow you on it. Therefore it must be useful for you?
27 April 2009, 1:45 pmReasonable Robinson:
Communicating must serve a purpose. If it has no value then people will eventually stop using it.
27 April 2009, 1:48 pmCharlie Osmond:
Thanks for the comments.
Andy, you are right, it is ironic that I publish the ppt, yet use Twitter. And that’s exactly why I put “follow me on twitter” so openly on the last slide. It was a rather tongue-in-cheek post.
However, I hoped the theory woudl provoke some thinking about the early-adopter model for web apps in general.
I also like some of the slight tweaks to the theory that I have seen – specifically that rather than:
- Twitter the Ponzi Scheme, where Social Capital in general is up for grabs.
The site is better described as
27 April 2009, 11:26 pm- Twitter the Pyramid Scheme, where followers are the currency
socialseo.com/socialnews:
Why Twitter is a Ponzi Scheme…
Thinking there might be something in that I headed over to Slideshare to take a second look at a PowerPoint walkthrough of Ponzi schemes. Apparently this ppt was used to help a jury understand how Ponzi Schemes work. Would a few minor changes show Twit…
28 April 2009, 5:53 pmandrew weir:
Interesting perspective.
Does that mean, given that Twitter is a micro blogging site, that all bloggers are engaged in a grand Ponzi Scheme?
29 April 2009, 10:30 amTaj:
Your argument, while a lark, still rests upon a number of assumptions, chief among them, the idea that social capital is a fixed asset. You’re forgetting the network effect, where the usefulness of a product increases as more people adopt it. Are fax machines and email equatable to a Ponzi scheme? How about Facebook? I venture to say they are not.
29 April 2009, 10:44 pmatul chatterjee:
Twitter enables communication. For the sake of argument let us assume it is a Ponzi scheme and collapses in 2010. Does that mean that people who have become friends during the course of their Twitified existence will break apart forever?
6 May 2009, 9:02 amVince Stevenson:
Is everybody on Twitter a show off? There are plenty sure, but I don’t tend to follow them. Rgds Vince
3 June 2009, 3:13 pm