Twitter co-founder Biz Stone dismissed a recent "Trouble@Twitter" article from Fortune as part of the usual news cycle, but said that the mere fact that it was written shows that the micro-blogging site is an important presence in the tech community.
"What took so long for somebody to write the article that says we are falling apart?" Stone wrote on his personal blog. "The normal press cycle is to put a company on a pedestal and then knock it down. It's much more interesting that way."
The article in question criticizes Twitter's lack of direction. "But what is it? A media company? A communications tool? Or something even more? Twitter executives need to answer those questions, and fast," writes Jessi Hempel.
Twitter's recent game of executive musical chairs, the "sheepish" way it rolls out new products, and the lack of revenue-generating ideas are hurting its chances, especially against the social-networking powerhouse Facebook, according to the article.
Stone didn't address any of the specific points addressed by Fortune, but noted that the publication has written glowing and critical articles about Twitter, Facebook, Google and others-—often in the same year.
"After mostly positive coverage of Facebook, Fortune finally published an article in April of 2009 titled, 'Is Facebook Losing Its Glow?' However, later that year they published, 'What Backlash? Facebook Is Growing Like Mad,'" Stone wrote. "Google received similar treatment. In July 2010 Fortune published, 'Google, The Search Party Is Over.' Later that year, they published, 'Google Continues To Gain Search Marketshare.'"
Fortune also wrote a positive review of Twitter in July 2010, which ended with "Facebook might want to take notes," Stone wrote.
"It may seem odd, but from my perspective, this means we are being taken very seriously. Twitter is an important company and it's under scrutiny from journalists—this is exactly how it's supposed to work," Stone wrote. "Now it's our job to prove the reporters wrong so they can write an article later about how we have made dramatic progress."
Twitter is still a small company with fewer than 500 employees, much smaller than the companies Fortune usually covers, Stone continued. "The truth is, we're long overdue to be knocked down by the press," he concluded.