Talking Bout Twitter

So after reading the article about Twitter, I really started to think about how this company got $20 million (I actually know the VCs that funded part of this and have sent them an email asking a similar question) and what the basis is to value them at $500 million. Now, I am not the biggest fan of online advertising, thought this is a marketing and internet course, I have never clicked a display, opened an email ad, clicked a banner or sponsored link, or anything of the sort - so companies that seem to only have advertising as a potential revenue model just don't work for me, from an investment standpoint. All that being said, Twitter is pretty cool and easy to use and really just reminds me of CraigsLIst and I love it because of the LACK of ads. Twitter really seems to be dreaming big about getting information out there quickly and efficiently, but whatever network effects in can take advantage of (which are huge) can not really be monetized (see earlier post if you are wondering why) and I don't see why anyone would invest in this company, except the users who invest their time. Users clearly can't be charged, perhaps they can do like Facebook and have corporate account rates, but that train seems to have left the station already, so its seems like the only place to go is ads - and as I say, boo to more ads and ad driven models - long run they are just not sustainable. Sorry professor.