engine - 5:52 pm on Oct 27, 2008 (gmt 0)

Twitter Could Start Charging for [online.wsj.com]Premium Services

When the service first appeared a couple of years ago, its appeal seemed largely limited to narcissists who wanted to let everybody know what they were doing in real time. But, like blogs and social-networking sites, Twitter is starting to cross into the mainstream, as a wide range of people find interesting uses for the brief notes. Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, a San Francisco-based entrepreneur, says the company is encouraged that businesses are starting to take to the service. "Looking at the value commercial entities are getting out of Twitter could help us build a sustainable company," he says, noting that Twitter might charge for premium services in the future.