This post was inspired by a post I read at Blackweb20.com The blog article titled “Twitter’s Popularity Doesn’t Translate into Profitability” talks about how popular Twitter has become but can that popularity turn in a profit.
I think Twitter should take a chapter out of what we already know as Domain Names renewal. Having a Twitter handle or username has almost become as popular as getting the right domain name.
Some of us are still old enough to remember that domain names were once free to obtain. So if we are so use to paying anywhere from $7.99-35.00 for the average .com .net or.org per year, so why can’t Twitter charge us a yearly registration fee to keep our Twitter username. Paying for your Twitter username would also cut down on the amount of Twitter spam one gets everyday.
If I were Twitter I would also charge a premium price to corporations/business for their company branded username. I will also charge celebrities and sports figures a premium for verifying their name.
I don’t think Fortune 500 corporations like Walmart, Bank of America or Ford would mind paying a little extra to use Twitter or to keep their Twitter handle.
With the last count of about 50+ million users and growing on Twitter, most of us who have had our Twitter handle for 3 years would not mind paying anywhere from $10-20 dollars per year just to keep on Tweeting. That could be an annual income of 500m – 1 billion for Twitter and that ain’t shabby.
So what are your thoughts on this matter. Would you pay a yearly fee to keep your Twitter username? Please answer in the comments below.
All the best
JB