Does Twitter Have New Social Media Competition?

Nicole Hurdle - 4.2.2010 2:00 PM

Recently in Austin, Texas the SXSW® (South by Southwest®) convention was held. This is a conference that offers unique convergence of original music, independent films, and emerging technologies. The three sections of this conference are spread out over a period of days, each having their own set of dates for attendees.

What does this have anything to do with Twitter and social media marketing? What they call the “interactive” section of the conference features cutting-edge technologies. This symposium brings together, “the world’s most creative Web developers, designers, bloggers, wireless innovators, content producers, programmers, widget inventors and new media entrepreneurs” SXSW® was where Twitter first exploded in 2007. Prior to the 2007 SXSW® there were about 20,000 tweets per day, over the course of the five day event that number tripled to 60,000. Since then, SXSW® has not exposed any social media sites as large as Twitter. Don’t get me wrong, many social networking sites have emerged, however not at the capacity or power that Twitter has over the past few years.  Twitter has dominated the social media marketplace along side of Facebook in recent times. As the popularity of this phenomenon grows new ideas will continue to appear.

At the recent 2010 SXSW® event, Twitter had a few contenders. Location-based social networking sites Foursquare and Gowalla emerged bigger and better than ever at this event, exciting the 15,000 attendees. Both Foursquare and Gowalla allow for an easy location update, which made it convenient for attendees to meet up during or outside of the event. Both geological sites are designed to help you explore your city and meet up with your friends along the way. You essentially “check-in” at your different locations throughout the day to alert and update others where you are at. As you update your locations at different places, you can earn points for the spots and compete with others.  Although they do not yet have the power of Twitter, it is thought to be a potential contender. As these sites become popular, don’t be surprised to see Twitter make a leap into this competition.

Location-based updates are becoming more and more popular through social media. Where I believe these applications will be utilized the most are at conventions or conferences. These are places where there are common interests amongst “friends” and close-by events that you can easily meet up at.

What do you think will be the next social media site to emerge?

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