Borasky Research Journal Google+ Page Yes, I know it’s April Fools’ Day. So when I saw this, I assumed it was an April Fools’ joke. But then I got to thinking – the Twitter services you get when you sign up are free, and yet they clearly have value to both those who simply read Twitter as a kind of news service, and those who use it as a promotional tool, a research tool, a networking tool or just a place to hang out on line with friends.
So now I’m curious – what if Twitter decided to charge for the service on a monthly basis. How should they price it? To determine that, I’ve created a survey using the Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter. This is a little trick I learned from OTBC in their courses for entrepreneurs.
So if you’re curious too, help me out. Take the survey, answer the questions, and I’ll publish the analysis. Let me clarify a few things:
- The prices I’m looking for are values per month in US dollars. I’ve set the survey up so it only accepts values between $0.01 and $100.00. If you’d really pay more that $100 a month for Twitter, don’t bother with me – call your stockbroker!
- I’m doing this strictly out of curiosity – nobody is paying me to do this.
- I include everything you currently get with a Twitter account – the ability to post tweets, follow people, block people, send DMs, and the ability to access Twitter via the API. I do not include Twitter Search or the new front page you see when you aren’t logged in! And I’m looking for its value to you, however you use Twitter.
What Would You Pay A Month For A Twitter Account? « Borasky Research Journal http://borasky-research.net/2010/04/01/w...
@znmeb Nothing! I’d switch to identi.ca
RT @TopsyRT: What Would You Pay A Month For A Twitter Account? http://bit.ly/d0kKPG
RT @TopsyRT: What Would You Pay A Month For A Twitter Account? http://bit.ly/d0kKPG
RT @TopsyRT: What Would You Pay A Month For A Twitter Account? http://borasky-research.net/2010/04/01/w...
@znmeb Ha! Isn’t my lost productivity enough payment?
RT @blogan: @znmeb Ha! Isn’t my lost productivity enough payment?
What would you pay a month for a Twitter account? http://bit.ly/blKtmZ via @AddToAny
Getting some good data – need more! "What Would You Pay A Month For A Twitter Account?" http://meb.tw/b5Rxkm
Is the current user base assumed in the survey? In reality the only feature that I (and likely most others) really care about is the network of people on Twitter. All my friends are there. Or at least a significant amount of them are. Without them the actual technology and feature set is useless. If Twitter charged a usage fee I believe most, if not all, of my friends would stop using it thus canceling the service's value to me. To determine a good hypothetical demand curve we'd have to assume "all else being equal" which would include the same user base first and foremost, not just features.
Strictly speaking, the Van Westendorp model does not apply to an existing service, and question four:
"At what subscription price, in US dollars per month, would you consider Twitter to be priced so low that you would feel the quality couldn’t be very good?"
is not valid, since millions of people are not suspicous of Twitter's quality at a price of zero.
But there are ways around this, and once I get a large enough sample, assuming I do, I'll be posting the analysis. I have gotten enough responses to show that people are seriously thinking about the economic value they are getting from Twitter.
$0 because there are other SM platforms to migrate to RT @znmeb: What Would You Pay A Month For A Twitter Account? http://meb.tw/b5Rxkm
What Would You Pay A Month For A Twitter Account? http://meb.tw/b5Rxkm
RT @znmeb: What Would You Pay A Month For A Twitter Account? « Borasky Research Journal http://meb.tw/b5Rxkm
RT @znmeb: What Would You Pay A Month For A Twitter Account? « Borasky Research Journal http://meb.tw/b5Rxkm
What Would You Pay A Month For A Twitter Account? « Borasky Research Journal http://borasky-research.net/2010/04/01/w...
RT @znmeb: What Would You Pay A Month For A Twitter Account? « Borasky Research Journal http://borasky-research.net/2010/04/01/w...
RT @znmeb: What Would You Pay A Month For A Twitter Account? « Borasky Research Journal http://borasky-research.net/2010/04/01/w...
What Would You Pay A Month For A Twitter Account? « Borasky Research Journal http://meb.tw/b5Rxkm
What Would You Pay A Month For A Twitter Account? « Borasky Research Journal http://meb.tw/bqraF7
What Would You Pay A Month For A Twitter Account? « Borasky Research Journal http://meb.tw/b5Rxkm