A simple definition of Twitter could be:

a social media platform that connects millions of people

Let's do a simple SWOT analysis to see if this definition is too limited:

• Strength: huge user base, brand recognition
• Weaknesses: dated business model (advertising), disconnect with new trends (visual experiences a la TikTok)
• Opportunities: inflation/recession, strong Chinese economy, presence of bots/automation in the ecosystem
• Threats: money is expensive, social/political turmoil

We're not including engineering or infrastructure in either the strengths or weaknesses of Twitter, as they are not difference makers.

When we take into consideration the findings of our SWOT analysis, we can propose a simpler definition of Twitter:

a platform that connects millions of people

The "social media" part of the original definition is a distraction, as we'll see in the following ideas for new revenue.

There are four key components in the Twitter ecosystem.

• User base: the most important part of Twitter
• App instances: where the true computing power resides
• Network (internet): a liability, especially for connection latency (not so much for bandwidth), especially for mobile users
• Infrastructure: the expensive part

We're not including bots as a key component, but we believe they are part of the picture.

As we evaluate new potential revenue streams, we have to keep all those components in mind.

The idea of using Twitter for shopping is not new. It's already available, but with a limitation: companies can only offer their product as an extension of their profile (via some kind of product gallery). And this is not in line with shopping trends; customers are no longer loyal to brands, they're looking for value across the entire market. This leaves advertising, which isn't ideal.

There are constraints with shopping on an app like Twitter:

• app marketplaces (Apple or Google) expect a cut of all commercial transactions taking place inside the apps
• customers expect high-quality images and/or videos, they're not going to buy products based on a simple textual description
• payment processing is expensive and complicated, and carries a number of headaches (fraud, refunds, etc.)
• free-form text search on a massive amount of data is slow and often leads to disappointing outcomes

The solution starts with a taxonomy that defines the shopping lingo: list of categories, sub-categories, etc. Then a catalog could be created for every category or sub-category, and participating sellers would be able to add their products to the relevant catalog(s), simply by sending tweets with the proper tags.

Shoppers would begin their journey with the identification of categories that interest them, and this would trigger the synchronization of a copy of the relevant catalog(s) on their device. They would then be able to search for the products they want, using plain English.

Search results coming from the catalog(s) would include links to existing marketplaces like Amazon, eBay or Etsy. The client app would pull media from those marketplaces (photos or videos) and present an hyperlink leading to the product page directly on the marketplace. This would allow the transaction to take place on the marketplace, solving the issue of app store fees.

With this solution, shoppers would be able to shop for products across multiple marketplaces, and there would be virtually no additional cost for Twitter. In fact, depending on volume, Twitter could probably get a referral fee from the marketplaces.

Sellers would also be able to announces sales (via special tweets) and even to create short-lived flash sales that would take priority in the search results; a premium subscription would be required for this feature. For a fee, sellers could also get a verified status, establishing that they are legitimate merchants in good standing on the relevant marketplaces; shoppers could choose to only see results from verified sellers.

Building this shopping mechanism would not be very difficult and the impact on the Twitter infrastructure would be negligible; meanwhile, multiple revenue streams could be gained in the process.

It's not easy to find a job (or an employee) using Twitter. One can maybe use tags and/or follow companies or individuals to see relevant postings or announcements; odds of success are low.

What if there was a new job market feature, allowing job searchers to announce their availability and hiring companies to scan for such announcements? If user profiles were slightly enriched to include a resume or other career-related attributes, prospective employers could even find undeclared job searchers.

LinkedIn created a job search platform and added social media capabilities; nothing prevents Twitter from doing the opposite.

Big retailers like Walmart expect their suppliers to use EDI to exchange order and shipping information. For a small supplier, this can be a big expense and a world of headaches, especially if IT is not part of their core business.

What if those small suppliers were able to use Twitter instead? They could tweet their order acknowledgements or shipping manifests, and their ERP could keep an eye on a private Twitter feed for responses or messages from the retailer.

This could be a win for everyone:

• Suppliers could rely on the Twitter ecosystem for all their messaging needs
• Retailers could enjoy the rock-solid Twitter endpoints rather than experience unpredictable supplier communication breakdowns
• ERP and ERP plugin developers could build standardized integrations
• Twitter could collect processing fees from suppliers and licensing fees from plugin developers