via Shawnblanc:
My lengthier response is that it’s hard to imagine Twitter ever expected to grow as fast as it has or become large as it is now. And now, in a way, I think that because of its growth, Twitter as a service has proven on its own behalf that having a large and vast user base is more important to Twitter the company than having a small but profitable one.
on a paid service:
It is quite safe to assume most Twitterers would never pay for the service. If it became a paid-only network they would simply sign-off and be done with it. I would be willing to stay and pay but only if many of the people I follow stayed and paid also.
Personally, i still wish Twitter would add a pro service that added things and kept the current features for current users. I’d gladly pay for additional features. I disagree with additional characters in tweets but you’d be surprise what people would pay for a badge next to their avatar that says “pro”