Twitter ad leaves viewers cold

Mark Glenning

Micro-blogging social media giant Twitter aired its first TV ad, but its confusing nature left some viewers none the wiser what its message was.

Advertised during the Baseball World Series in the US, a series of tweets relating to the sport were featured. However, these flew by so quickly that viewers were not able to read them. Ironically, they took to Twitter to complain.

While blogger John Gruber called it “incomprehensible” and demanded that someone be fired over the promo, Twitter user Count Frappula said:

“That Twitter commercial was really bad. Can’t imagine anyone feeling invited to use the service or see the value after seeing the spot.”

The service has turned to TV ads to bolster the number of new users attracted to the site, which has been the subject of recent criticism.

George Nimeh, an entrepreneur, said:

“I’m a baseball fan […] I’ve been on Twitter since 2007 and to be honest I had trouble making sense of it.
“I can’t imagine what it would be like for someone who is unfamiliar with what Twitter really is. It was really fast, it was kind of a mish-mash of different stuff.”

Mr. Nimeh pointed out that although Twitter’s user figures had demonstrated a strong annual growth, early 2015 saw its figures fall to less than twenty percent. He told the BBC:

“I think Twitter’s fundamental problem is they’ve never been able to very simply and succinctly explain to people who are not familiar with Twitter what it is – and this particular ad this commercial does nothing to help.”

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Mark Glenning

Twitter ad leaves viewers cold