Should you pay for Twitter?

I spent the better part of my weekend talking about Twitter’s value as a marketing tool, particularly with many people wondering whether the company will ever find a revenue stream. Now it looks like they have. That’s a Good Thing for the company. But, the question remains: Is it worth paying for Twitter’s new analytics service?

For most people, the answer is yes. Why? Well, one major argument against paying for Twitter’s new service is the arrival of free tools to help you measure Twitter’s value. But, as TechCrunch notes, “…not having a centralized app hosted elsewhere will limit Twitalytic’s appeal.”

This is classic “free-mium” economics, as described in detail in Chris Anderson’s book, Free: The Future of a Radical Price. Essentially, free-mium asks a question like, “what’s your time worth to you?” If you’ve got the skills, the inclination and the time to install Twitalytic on your server, it’s a useful option for optimizing your social media efforts.

If not – and I suspect that’s true for many – then Twitter has a potential winner on its hands. For me, this is another classic: get the most value for your time and money. If you have more time than money, download Twitalytic and have a blast. If you’ve got more money than time, give Twitter’s new tool a look.

Oh. And you want one more “time vs. money” example? You can buy Chris Anderson’s Free from Amazon. Or you can download Free from iTunes. For free. Which one is worth more to you? Tell us about your decision in the comments.

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