Columnist Suggests Twitter Inc. Should Hook Up With Facebook Inc.

Facebook Inc.

should acquire Twitter Inc.

in the view of a columnist for the Web site and cable TV news service called Fusion. Twitter shares got hammered last week on a disappointing earnings report and are off about 25 percent in the past four weeks. The San Francisco-based social media company traded recently at $37.88, up $0.04. With Twitter shares off drastically "we're in the realm where Silicon Valley's highly-paid bankers might actually be able to hammer something out," wrote Felix Salmon, a former blogger for Reuters who moved to Fusion about a year ago. Fusion is a joint venture of Walt Disney Co.

and privately held Univision Communications Inc., a Spanish language media company. Early hopes for Twitter's rapid user growth have been "repeatedly dashed," according to Salmon, who said new Twitter users "tend to find themselves following celebrities, big corporate accounts, and brands." "Of you're not firing up Twitter to see what your friends are saying, you're much less likely to notice any of the paid advertising it features," Salmon said. By acquiring Twitter, Facebook "would gain access to the world's journalists and news junkies" while by linking Twitter and Facebook accounts, "Twitter would start being personal again," Salmon said. Facebook in 2008 reportedly offered to acquire Twitter for $100 million in cash plus $400 million in Facebook stock, Salmon noted.