I know that Twitter has the critical mass, but their numbers are hugely inflated due to spammers, bots, and non-users that made an account then never used it.

As far as focusing on profits, I would have to disagree that Google, Facebook and Twitter do not focus on profits… Hell Yeah they did, whether they want to reach mass then turn profitable or go for profits right away, their plans have always included a way to make money.

James: You’re right. It’s difficult to reconcile the current economic downturn with investing time, effort and money first and waiting for returns later.
Consider the alternatives though, what many businesses practice: Cutting staff, letting go of buildings, furniture, computers. Capitalism is a highly foreseeable system. After every downturn there is another boom, the businesses that don’t fail have even a better position afterwards (less competition etc.) but losing your assets (people and infrastructure) effectively cripples your business. I’d rather let people work half a day for a while then having to find new employees you can rely later. Most businesses are very short sighted. Working like Twitter does wise long term planning.

It is only when companies understand that they should focus on creating and adding value first and thinking about profit later than they will be able to maximize their online presence and truly benefit from the social media and the Web 2.0

In the end, Jesus got it right: it is all about giving first in order to receive.

Thank you for this terrific post.