Can Twitter survive the hype cycle?

An article by BBC’s Maggie Shiels charts the rise and rise of Twitter, but wonders about the viability of the service – which has yet to make any money.

I’m a fan of Twitter (working in a distributed organisation it keeps me in touch with what my colleagues are up to) and Maggie usefully traces the development of the service from humble beginnings to endorsement by Oprah Winfrey.

But questions about how companies like Twitter become profitable remain. And in this new age of “economic austerity” it seems likely that companies won’t have the luxury of such extended profit free beginnings.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8015777.stm