Too many twits on Twitter

The bigger it gets, the more I lose confidence in Twitter's staying power. The technology isn't the problem, people are.

Like most of the things that came before it, Twitter has devolved into a popularity contest with no real purpose. People follow lots of other people in hopes those people will follow them back ... because they need to have lots of followers ... and then what? Most people are only following you as a courtesy because you followed them or in hopes that you will follow them. But why? Once you're following a large number of people it becomes impossible to keep up with what all those people are saying, and everyone else is having the same problem. 

Doesn't this mean that most of your followers don't see and don't care about what you're saying; that Twitter is a conversational crapshoot; that you might as well just go to a public place and start shouting?

What is the Twitter endgame? As the Twitterverse gets diluted with trend followers seeking easy (even if false) affirmation and brands just looking for access to eyeballs, is there any real benefit to Twitter that will keep the masses using it after the novelty wears off?

[Update] I should add ... there are still good things about Twitter and people worth following on Twitter. Unfortunately, like most things, mass adoption will ruin it.