Twitter Deal Could Be Bubble Precursor

With San Francisco betting big on Twitter, we'd all better cross our fingers and hope we're not in the midst of another tech bubble.

Some of the familiar hallmarks of a bubble are back, according to the CC Times. New tech firms have reinvigorated investors' confidence in online media, even when the future of those companies is murky at best.

For now, some folks are once again living high on the hog. Research shows that employment in the tech industry is nearing levels last seen just before the bubble burst in 2000, inspired by the success of companies like Zynga and Facebook.

But there's also an air of caution. Companies are reigning in the luxuries that marked the dot-com bubble, growing only when necessary instead of expanding without a plan. No-frills startups are what's chic these days. They're also capitalizing on improved systems for rapid feedback to tweak their operations and, if necessary, pivot in a new direction.

Nevertheless, there's still plenty of concern that the latest tech windfall could disappear just as it did before. The city's sweetheart tax-break for Twitter has garnered plenty of skepticism, with some observers pointing out that the politicians most in favor of the deal were also the ones who use Twitter the most.

Will the bubble burst, or is this a new, more-sustainable model than we've seen in the past? Only time will tell. Until then, you might want to keep some savings in-hand, just in case.