Yesterday, in Twitter’s historical first earnings call, I live tweeted @dickc Dick Costello comments. Of all his comments, my favorite was when he said “Twitter is global public, real-time, conversation, distributed, and unfiltered.”

As a side note, I’m fairly certain that SiliconANGLE was the only outlet live tweeting Twitter’s earnings call.

There is an management expression in Big Data: “There is data to delight and data to decide.” There is lots of data to analyze, but one glaring thing stood out in @dickc introduction.  Twitter management is smart to focus on a core metric: User engagement.

#twtr mgt decision solid: compromise Timeline impressions to increase user experience & interaction says @dickc

— John Furrier (@furrier) February 5, 2014

Data to delight and data to decide is a management big data dilemma. As a public company Twitter has to delight Wall Street and users that means following certain core metrics to articulate their value.  Yesterday we heard the gutsy call by Twitter management – they are de-positioning their best metric in “timeline impressions.”  I can’t over-emphasize how big this metric is for Twitter; it’s their  biggest set of numbers.

However, it may delight Wall Street but it doesn’t delight users.  Instead, Costello emphasized their focus that is to sacrifice chasing the timeline impressions metric as a core data point and instead invest in user experience and conversational value – interactions.

Using data to decide the future is the key for Twitter and timeline impressions doesn’t add value for users.  It’s just a big number.  What delights users is experience, interactions, and value.

Falling in the trap of chasing the wrong metrics can kill a company and misguide management on how to decide what’s important.  I give Twitter management huge props for focusing on the metrics that matter that is the most which is delighting users – usage, new usage, repeat  usage.

I can imagine the big data challenge Twitter faces in running their business.  There are tons of metrics to look at and picking ones that delight users and investors is very important.  What’s more important is the data that can help management make the best business decisions about the product and monetization.  It’s clear from their first earnings call that they are focused on the business metrics.

Instead of trotting out the massive Timeline impressions stat Twitter management “bit the bullet” and set expectations that that isn’t the delightful metric.  Sound simple but this is hard for businesses to do. Chasing the wrong metrics can kill a business and Twitter has a clear understanding around how their product creates value for users and advertisers – usage, interactions, and engagement.

Here are some of my live tweets from the big moment of Twitter’s 1st earnings call.

#twtr earnings: @dickc says did things in Q4 flywheel kicks in = translation: Growth Hack – love it — John Furrier (@furrier) February 5, 2014

Conversation expansion both public and private is key area of expansion WOW — John Furrier (@furrier) February 5, 2014

I am really enjoying the #twtr earnings call their 1st in their public history- a “moment worth capturing and tweeting” — John Furrier (@furrier) February 5, 2014

#twtr Earnings call summary: sounds like that Twitter wants to be more like Facebook. Facebook want to be more like Twitter. Bold move — John Furrier (@furrier) February 5, 2014

#twtr positioning: Positioning: global public, realtime, conversation, distributed, and unfiltered says @dickc — John Furrier (@furrier) February 5, 2014

#twtr positioning for advertisers on display in the earnings call – the word “Moment” being used multiple times by @dickc #smart #realtime — John Furrier (@furrier) February 5, 2014

Street is Trying To Figure Out Twitter

Despite what are fundamentally smart moves, stock is falling as a result of their earnings. Investors are concerned about these so called timeline views which declined because of the focus on interactions and emphasis on connecting users with conversations. The main pain point for investors is the lack of rapid growth in new users and Monthly Active Uniques (MAU) which some say will raise questions to the valuation. Many think that Twitter is overvalued; I see Twitter a long term buy.

#twtr earnings: Opinion: Lets cut to the chase: Twitter is a #BUY bc they are slow rolling revenue imo; data alone is untapped gold mine — John Furrier (@furrier) February 5, 2014

#twtr earnings: new user experiences on mobile drive tight mutual connections wh drive interactions says @dickc — John Furrier (@furrier) February 5, 2014

Wall Street Journal has a nice round up worth reading. @WSJD link