Even as the Dot-Com 2.0 exasperates to new highs, it seems Twitter - the darling of the no-profit-but-lots-of-hype recent IPOs - is losing its lustre. TWTR is down 4% today to new lows post-IPO under $40. The catalyst for this latest slump appears to be a WSJ article [5] about "fake accounts" - whocouldanode? Of course, it wouldn't be the new normal markets without an exchange 'breaking'... The NYSE and NYSE MKT cash equities markets is working to resolve an issue with customer connectivity.
Via WSJ, [5]
In securities filings, Twitter says it believes fake accounts represent fewer than 5% of its 230 million active users. Independent researchers believe the number is higher.
Italian security researchers Andrea Stroppa and Carlo De Micheli say they found 20 million fake accounts for sale on Twitter this summer. That would amount to nearly 9% of Twitter's monthly active users.
[6]