First of all, twitter won’t become irrelevant.  High user account or not, no service offers what it does. Google plus and Facebook both have an entirely different interaction method.  Twitter’s beauty is that it is limited.  If you want it to do more, you’re doing it wrong, and they would be, too.  For interaction with customers or fans, nothing does it like twitter.  If you think that FB pages and plus pages are the new best way for businesses to interact with people in real time and FAST, you would be incorrect.  Twitter affords the cleanest and most direct way to interact with people in a social network, period, and that will continue to be its saving grace.

Secondly, Twitter doesn’t “need” instagram, just like FB didn’t – and don’t suppose that Instagram wouldn’t have been a passing fad as well if it weren’t for the attention it got; it has yet to do anything outside of be twitter with photos.  It is limited just the same as twitter. If twitter bought instagram, it barely would have mattered.  The userbase is already using Twitter for sharing as it is; all Zuck paid for is that userbase, but he still won’t own them, just as he doesn’t own his userbase on Facebook.

If you want to put an expiration date on a social network, put it on Facebook.  IPO or not, FB will piss off its userbase because of one major thing; it IS too broad. Social networking, when spread too broadly, creates disdain in users.  Myspace proved that, and Facebook will do the same if it continues on the path it is on (which it will).  Facebook is not Google, and it never will be.  Twitter will continue, making money or not, because of it’s simplicity.

Finally, if you’re ruling out Twitter making money, you’re making a mistake.  With Promoted Tweets only now starting to roll out, Twitter is finding its handhold in monetization, because it can keep its userbase without pissing them off too much – this was smart, because if twitter had been inundated with ads and games and other BS to begin with, it never would have found the userbase it has grown.  People jump ship from a social network when it changes too much, because generally, they dislike change.  Zuck and Google don’t have to care about this, because they have many products under their umbrella, but this also means that the user experience never has any normalcy.  Twitter knows it needs to focus on keeping its core service solid, so as to not lose its users.

Don’t rule a service out because it didn’t buy some Hipster phone app. That bubble will pop.

I make heavy usage of Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and Youtube promoting my band, Vertigo Venus, and my solo project, brian botkiller, and it works.  I create a Facebook event for all my shows, and I invite people based on the region/area the show is going down in.  I keep facebook lists that sort my friends out based on their location, and send event invites to them.

I push hard on twitter, announcing the show, and talking to others about it.  You HAVE to interact!  Don’t just talk AT people.  Talk WITH people.  Ask them if they come to shows often, why they do, thank them for coming.  Make fans and friends, not just connections. The key is to interact.

Myspace is still great for booking shows and promoting; it has lost much of its steam, but you can’t ignore it, not if you’re a serious musician.

Doing vlogs on Youtube is very important, too, to talk about your shows and engage your fans.  Do giveaways and announcements via Youtube, and ask fans to interact with you.

And, keep a band blog, talk about what’s going on, what you’re doing, and THANK YOUR FANS!  They’re the reason you’re getting known and getting people at your shows.

That’s just some thoughts.  Hope you like them.

/brian