4 Scary things #TwitterDown made us realise

Even though Twitter was struggling to keep it’s head above the water for a couple of hours on Tuesday, the #TwitterDown hashtag still managed to be the number one trending hashtag globally. The disruption in Twitter’s service affected millions of people around the world, but everyone kept trying to post their tweets.

It’s almost like we can’t, or won’t, believe that Twitter is down. Twitter has become part of a lot of people’s lives, including my own. So when Twitter was down, four scary realizations dawned on me.

Twitter is an amazing source of information

When I got home on Tuesday I sat down to go online and catch up on everything I missed that day. News from around the world. Articles from the industry I work in. It almost felt like I was out of the loop. I knew Twitter was down, because I too was trying to tweet. Usually by the end of the day I have bookmarked at least a few links to read when I settle down at home.

After a day with #TwitterDown the bookmarks folder for my daily reading was empty. Not a single link, because I get most of my reading material via headlines on Twitter.

A lot of people can’t afford Twitter being down

The Twitter API has been used around the globe. At Webfluential we use Twitter as the first level of application to becoming an Influencer connected to our Influencer Marketing platform. When Twitter is down, potential new Influencers might leave without being able to apply, never to return.

Yes, we rely on Twitter for laughs, memes, videos, information and quotes, but Twitter has also become an important part of how a lot of things on the internet work.

We have never been as connected globally as we are now

At this stage of the digital age, it’s pretty obvious that we are connected like we’ve never been connected before. We can instantly share text, images, videos with a global audience. For Millennials this interconnectivity is engrained into their existence. For them there was no time before social media.

But Twitter is not the only link in our connection with each other. While Twitter was down, Twitter users flooded to Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Reddit to keep the online conversation and sharing of information going.

It could all disappear in the blink of an eye

Twitter could disappear tomorrow, for a multitude of reasons. Remember MySpace? Our digital era is driven by innovation, and innovation is a ruthless, cut throat business. The pace that our innovation is moving at is staggering, and the social media killer could be a few lines of code on the computer of a 20 year old, sitting in a dorm room.

#TwitterDown was another reminder that not only do businesses close, sometimes they get pushed out by the better, faster, more efficient businesses. Marketers and brands need to diversify their online presence as well as their traffic sources. Incorporating an Influencer Marketing campaign into your digital marketing strategy is a great way to do that.

How did #TwitterDown affect your day?