Comments for Is Twitter Really That Big?

Is Twitter Really That Big?

2009-06-06T18:51:07Z

Web security SaaS company Purewire evaluated the profiles of millions of Twitter users to show the depth of a new tool it has created called Tweet Grade. While the tool itself is not unlike numerous other Twitter grading services, the company has uncovered some very interesting user statistics. It seems as though far fewer people are actually using and contributing to the site than Twitter's recent hype and massive growth would suggest. In fact, the data shows that a large percentage of Twitter users have not "tweeted" since the first day they joined the service and at least a quarter of its users don't have any followers at all.

]]> Twitter won't give out its own numbers (and apparently won't follow or listen to you either), but Purewire was able to pull together profile data from 7 million user profiles and this is what it found:

First, many Twitter users "have abandoned their accounts shortly after creating them, and a significant percentage are not showing signs of account activity".

* 40 percent of Twitter users have not tweeted since their first day on Twitter (i.e., the account was most likely created and subsequently forgotten about).
* Approximately 25 percent of Twitter users are not following
anyone, while two-thirds are following less than 10 people (i.e., the
account was created but is not actually being used regularly).

Second, the data shows that "Twitter is used more as a mass medium for receiving information, rather than as a way to interact with others. Proof is shown by evaluating the followers and friends of Twitter users".

* More than 1/3 of Twitter users have not posted a single tweet, and almost 80 percent of the users have less than 10 tweets (i.e., while Twitter is billed as a great collaboration tool, a large number of users are there to consume content, not distribute it).
* Approximately 30 percent of Twitter users do not have any
followers, and 80 percent of Twitter users have less than 10 followers
(i.e., for many users, their posts are not being widely tracked or
read).

* 50 percent of Twitter users are following more people than they
have as followers, and another 30 percent of Twitter users are following
the same number of people that are following them (i.e. users are
aggressively trying to attract followers by hoping they will "follow
back" but have been unsuccessful).

It's clear that celebrities like Oprah and Ashton Kutcher have made Twitter the "flavor of the month", but there are many people out there who will never quite get it. That's alright with us. There are bound to be folks trying out different Web apps that won't end up using them, we do it all the time. We still think Twitter has become a valuable mainstream communication platform and its usage will continue to evolve and grow.

Be sure to check out Purewire's new Twitter grading tool Tweet Grade to see if you and your followers pass the test.

You can find ReadWriteWeb on Twitter, as well as the entire RWW Team: Marshall Kirkpatrick, Bernard Lunn, Alex Iskold, Sarah Perez, Frederic Lardinois, Sean Ammirati, Doug Coleman, Dana Oshiro, Steven Walling and Lidija Davis.

Comment from Mykalai Kontilai on 2010-09-25

2010-09-25T13:11:34Z

Really knowing the exact figures here is almost impossible, but I think everyone can agree that Twitter is massive and the figures are insane.

Twitter really is one of the most useful things ever IMO. I honestly believe that it may replace traditional search one day in some major form.

Comment from Positive Quotes on 2010-09-25

2010-09-25T10:57:07Z

Twitter is bigger than any social site.. It has a big percentage as compare to others.

Comment from San Diego Dentist on 2010-09-24

2010-09-24T13:17:42Z

Twitter is really amazing and fantastic microblogging.I also think twitter is bigger than any social site..

Comment from Danny DeMichele on 2010-09-23

2010-09-23T12:21:30Z

I think a lot of you bloggers, including TechCrunch's Erick Schonfield today, naturally use Twitter differently. You have the freedom of time, the tech knowhow, and a built up audience to tweet to about news and relevant analysis.

Comment from work From home on 2010-09-20

2010-09-20T07:13:48Z

Twitter is both a 2-way and one way communication system, and most people use it according to their needs. I only need 10-20 personal acquaintances as followers and to follow 25-50 content sources and friends.

Comment from IRS Tax Lawyer on 2010-09-16

2010-09-16T16:46:43Z

40 percent of Twitter users have not tweeted since their first day on Twitter.

Comment from San Diego Fence on 2010-09-14

2010-09-14T11:42:28Z

It seems as though far fewer people are actually using and contributing to the site than Twitter's recent hype and massive growth would suggest.

Comment from Electronic Cigarette on 2010-09-13

2010-09-13T10:15:00Z

The real power and use for Twitter is still forming. Who knows, something else may come along and knock it off its pedestal (Google Wave?) - I think this is more an indication of how communication is changing and less about Twitter specifically.

Comment from Tarif Awad on 2010-09-11

2010-09-11T09:24:10Z

I think the issue here is really around the temporal considerations within what defines uniqueness. Simply saying a Visitor is a Unique Visitor means little, and leads people to think of something like "Lifetime Unique Visitors" perhaps, in their desire to try to have a metric that means "people."

For example, let's say we define weeks as most do: 7-day, Sunday-Saturday periods. A user visits a site 7 times within that week i.e. once each day of the week. In so doing they become (1) weekly unique visitor, but they also become (7) daily unique visitors.

Comment from SEO Services on 2010-09-10

2010-09-11T06:23:45Z

Yeah there is no doubt that TWITTER is really a bigger one in the area of social networking........it is really amazing and fantastic macroblogging.

Comment from Joan Austin on 2010-09-10

2010-09-10T10:31:18Z

I am assuming every 'big' and 'small' company will eventually be taking advantage of social media sites to build better relationships with their customers.Thanks for the wonderful info, Ann. We are still feeling the whole Twitter thing out atm and this is helpful

Comment from Sunbrella Furniture on 2010-09-03

2010-09-04T05:42:46Z

yeah twitter is that really big. recently in the newspaper also there was a shocking news that due to twitter, a father was able to meet his son after 15 years. thanks a lot to twitter.

Comment from Argington Bam on 2010-08-23

2010-08-23T09:59:16Z

yyyeeesss.....
twiiter is really big.
It is the way to keep friendship with someone,
To make lots of friends
To share some topics with someone.
etc.

Comment from Ambella Vanity on 2010-08-18

2010-08-18T09:05:38Z

twitter is bigger than any social site and will going to get good competition from others players too

Comment from diet for weight loss on 2010-08-12

2010-08-12T07:15:53Z

Anyone can judge about twitter size that how twitter is Big by simply knowing one fact about twitter. Since Mr. Gates joined Twitter, no anyone can’t tell how many followers of Mr. Gates has right now.... Because no of followers of him is rapidly increasing. By this fact we can judge that How Twitter is Big..

Comment from list building on 2010-08-02

2010-08-02T10:28:49Z

Administration of twitter is so good.Twitter is so simple to handle, to use, so semantic, very detail structured.. That’s why this leads the technology to a long way. The vision for the semantic web is very ambitious, and I think the way Facebook approaches this is the way to go.

Comment from Outer Banks Vacation Rentals on 2010-07-23

2010-07-24T01:45:29Z

I also never use Twitter that much or send tweets out. I don't really get the big deal with that social networking site. I prefer facebook out of the 3 major ones. I like simple... not profiles with so much crap on it that it crashes my computer like myspace.

Comment from ecommerce store on 2010-07-22

2010-07-22T07:06:06Z

Twitter has been so hyped that people have rushed to reserve their own Twitter name, or names for their companies, products, etc., even if they have yet to put them to good use.

Comment from IRS Tax Lawyer on 2010-07-13

2010-07-14T05:22:23Z

Spending a lot of time on twitter, broadcasting your thoughts there - i think its great, if you have that as a hobby or part of your job description, and have the time in your life to express original analysis, comments or just friendly banter, then that's great for you. Most people do not however. That doesn't mean that a short message feed system like twitter can't be beneficial for more regular people though.

Comment from Danny DeMichele Photos on 2010-07-09

2010-07-09T09:06:55Z

Not in the long run. Because people are so shallow about it, it's likely to fade into obscurity. There is no real content on twitter unlike perhaps a website like YouTube or article directories that can provide useful information.

Comment from executive desk on 2010-07-06

2010-07-07T03:21:15Z

Well, I consider that Twitter could do a better job enticing new users to sign up. And for sure, it is enhancing rapidly. But Twitter needs to keep the mature user interested. With so many Twitter newbies it's getting back to people literally tweeting what they're doing now. No one cares about that.

Comment from Cross Country Home Services on 2010-07-01

2010-07-01T10:00:00Z

The real power and use for Twitter is still forming. Who knows, something else may come along and knock it off its pedestal.And now people prefer twitter than any other social networking site.

Comment from Danny DeMichele Flikr on 2010-06-11

2010-06-11T07:31:42Z

Twitter's uniqueness is just in the fact that nobody has to follow somebody back.

Comment from VMO on 2010-03-27

2010-03-27T18:59:41Z

Twitter, like many other social networking sites, must continue in the development of technology in order to maintain long-term success. Twitter should take Facebook's lead if it wants to see continued growth, rather than decline.

Comment from E Cig on 2010-02-17

2010-02-17T21:10:48Z

I don't know anyone who uses Twitter.

Your girl Mary :)

Comment from E Cig on 2010-02-16

2010-02-17T04:50:37Z

Twitters gonna be old news soon anyway.

Your girl Mary :)

Comment from Steve K on 2010-01-16

2010-01-17T05:21:47Z

Twitter is ok for some people I personally have never to much into it but I might give it a go.I did get some valuable info the other day about the e-cig and E-Liquid in the federal court ruling.

Comment from electronic cigarette on 2010-01-08

2010-01-08T20:06:01Z

I personally have never used twitter because I just really don't have time. I can barely keep up with my own life, much less anyone else's.

Comment from Lucky Slicks on 2009-12-15

2009-12-15T21:35:19Z

It is also not my idea of fun to be updating friends on every minute of my life, but you can't take away that they have created enough popularity to as big as it is.

Comment from Cure For Constipation on 2009-12-08

2009-12-09T01:43:49Z

I suppose there are upsides and downsides to any social medium such as twitter. The difference I find though for example is with a forum there is often a discussion that has a focused intent and things can be learned (At least where I go).
Then you have twitter where it seems like it's either glorifying an ego or promotional marketing of some kind. Just not my cup of tea and if I ever use it I definitely wont be on the receiving end.

Comment from Electronic Cigarette Fan on 2009-12-04

2009-12-05T06:36:42Z

Others said that Twitter has a big percentage unlike others. If I were to ask, I don't think Twitter is really that big. It doesn't mean that celebrities are in it, the site has a big percentage.

- best electric cigarette

Comment from e cigarette on 2009-11-07

2009-11-07T23:06:36Z

Give it some time and Twitter will lose its wow factor and soon fade to obscurity. I think it's a great tool to keep in touch with people but, like our other ways of communicating electronically, affects the way we communicate with one another. MySpace is one thing, but updating my "What am I doing now" box several times a day? Seems utterly pointless.

Comment from e cigarette on 2009-11-06

2009-11-07T05:05:08Z

I do not think twitter is all that either, just something that benefits the few, not the masses.

Comment from Electric cigarette on 2009-08-15

2009-08-16T05:53:21Z

Twitter is Wack, check out Facebook or the all newElectronic Cigarette

Comment from Simon on 2009-07-29

2009-07-30T04:22:49Z

Yeah natalie i agree with You

Comment from kate james on 2009-07-29

2009-07-30T04:12:02Z

WOW..
what a nice post

Comment from agnes_griffins on 2009-07-22

2009-07-23T03:13:31Z

Twitter is really amazing and fantastic microblogging. I really admired this site.

Comment from Natalie on 2009-07-21

2009-07-21T10:39:27Z

In my opinion, Twitter is a big tool as long as you make fully use of it. We shouldn't be limited to receive information from it but sharing or sending our own experiences or interests that have profound effects on others. If we wanna more followers,the basic thing we should do is to refresh our profiles continuously and post more potential articles or blogs that attract others' attention. All in all,I am convinced that Twitter helps us to exert our potentiality as well as imagination.

Comment from KRITGuy on 2009-06-27

2009-06-27T20:29:04Z

Assuming that you are NOT one of the "rich and famous"...

There's a large following on twitter by:

(1) Sellers of Get-Rich-Quick Schemes
(2) Porn Industry Opportunists
(3) Charities looking for money
(4) Other Advertisers
(5) Pyramid Friendship Schemes

Genuine followers are largely:

(1) Industry Specific (would link elsewhere too)
(2) People you already know from Outlook etc
(3) Folk who are looking for followers (just like you)
(4) Solicited Family & Friends & Colleagues

Well, that's what I have seen so far.

How about you?

Comment from Sweaty Armpits on 2009-06-25

2009-06-25T11:39:41Z

Twitter is really a massive deal these days. My local paper here in australia has a "who tweeted" section on page 3 EVERY day. With the best tweets from celebrities as well as tweeted tips from companies etc. One girl had all her bank fees waived after doing a massive retweet campaign against a major bank here in australia when her mortgage account was hit with unnecessary fees. It's a big deal indeed!

Comment from Medicine Adsense on 2009-06-21

2009-06-21T18:03:07Z

twitter can get you some serious sales if you do it properly, we have a lot of customers from twitter every day.

Comment from macera oyunlari on 2009-06-14

2009-06-14T20:31:44Z

might be that Twitter's value as a driver of social norms or social mandates will be limited.

Comment from Müzik Dinle on 2009-06-13

2009-06-13T17:07:13Z

This goes for just about any social network.

Online Müzik Dinle: http://www.muzikdinle1.net

Comment from Ralph Jones on 2009-06-13

2009-06-13T15:46:52Z

I gotta admit, even though I have a twitter account, I hardly recall the last time I tweeted someone. From various sources I was hearing that there are actually less than a fraction of twitter users who are actively using twitter. I guess Purewire research proves that now.

Comment from Jorge Sousa on 2009-06-11

2009-06-11T16:38:04Z

Twitter is a tool, unless you love news, for losing time reading and writing bunches of trash information, and making our lifes more worried with "what I'm doing now" than the actually thing you are doing.

Is quite strange that there is still people, unless they don't life xp (age), that still finds that such tools save time ...

Comment from Scott Charles on 2009-06-10

2009-06-10T20:18:09Z

Doug: it's just amazing how any story about twitter at all generates heaps of comments. 47 here, and 133 on Digg (if I understand Digg correctly). So sad that time doesn't allow a careful reading of each one (my favorite so far: "twitter can suck my b--ls" -- worthy of ancient Rome!).

As it so happens I think your article is probably the best Twitter review I've seen, in that it is succinct and logical.

That said whether Twitter will "become a valuable mainstream communication platform and its usage will continue to evolve and grow," is only one conclusion. Another might be that Twitter's value as a driver of social norms or social mandates will be limited -- most people won't use it, and those that do will mainly use it to see what kind of graffiti is being posted.

Cheers.

Comment from Chrissy Morin on 2009-06-10

2009-06-10T14:54:30Z

I guess that makes those of us that do use Twitter to provide information and spread news from other's more special! That's always good. I personally find Twitter a great way to keep up with world events and much less time consuming and depressing than watching the local news. Up to the second weather & traffic reports from followers and free deals that I'd never know about are some of my favorite features. I also "ghost" tweet for several of my web/seo clients and they've had great results from the exposure on twitter. It was a great service before Ashton and Oprah and will continue to be.

Comment from Pallian on 2009-06-10

2009-06-10T09:19:01Z

You can see if you are big on twitter by: http://imbigontwitter.com :=)

Comment from Jordan Schwartz on 2009-06-09

2009-06-09T18:40:59Z

My guess is that a sizeable percentage of the "signed up and never used it again" accounts are Twitter name squatters. Seems like many of the names I've wanted to get are owned by someone who has never tweeted and is just following one other person (presumably the owner).

Comment from dani on 2009-06-09

2009-06-09T17:43:50Z

Twitter has tremendous potential to really change the way ppl communicate.
chek my blog i got realy resul from twitter.
http://webddd.blogspot.com/

Comment from dani on 2009-06-09

2009-06-09T17:41:55Z

I think twitter (and probably Google wave) are a hint of the direction the web is taking. It's evolved into a collaborative sharing network with the potential to reach anyone, and now in real time.
twitter give me visitors chekitout
http://eyeonglobe.blogspot.com/

Comment from Video Ads on 2009-06-09

2009-06-09T15:15:59Z

Twitter offers the individual or small business a tremendous opportunity to get out there and get their voice heard...
Like everything in life its what YOU make of it! Like one of the previous commentators...Twitter is very misunderstood...whats the point having 10,000 followers if none are engaging with you, your product or service!

It is my belief that things will change and people will start catching on as to how to extract real value from Twitter.

Twitter is HUGE! and Twitter will only get more popular...
Amazing achievement in such a short time!

Comment from Deborah Hernandez on 2009-06-09

2009-06-09T14:25:38Z

ktroia:
"Soylent Green is ppl!" ??

Comment from Shaun on 2009-06-09

2009-06-09T12:29:30Z

wACK!!Thats all I can say bout Twitter!! :-{

Comment from Marketing Blog | Jim Connolly on 2009-06-09

2009-06-09T07:03:02Z

Hi Doug,

I think that many of the stats surrounding Twitter are bogus, primarily because of the number of 'bots' that are in the system.

Look at people with the most followers and you will see thousands of bots following them. A great example is Veronica Belmont from Tekzilla @veronica

Veronica's account has hundreds of thousnads of followers, but it looks like most are from bots.

Robert Scoble told me yesterday morning that Twitter are aware of this problem, but not interested in doing anything about it. Strange eh?

Great post.

Comment from guruvan (Rob Nelson) on 2009-06-08

2009-06-08T19:26:52Z

Garin: I have to disagree with you on both points. Not everything fades into obscurity. (though many, if not most, do) And I definitely can't agree with the second point. Their 30day attrition rate at twitter speaks the opposite of what you say. Twitter, IMO, will only last as long as "low-tech" mobile devices that can only access via SMS remain prevalent, which may be a while yet. Twitter, Inc. simply doesn't seem like they're willing to innovate the platform, and that is what will be required for it to last.

Comment from Television Spy on 2009-06-08

2009-06-08T17:19:13Z

This goes for just about any social network.

Comment from dani on 2009-06-08

2009-06-08T16:54:22Z

Comment from dani on 2009-06-08

2009-06-08T15:30:38Z

Twitter has tremendous potential to really change the way ppl communicate.
chek my blog i got realy resul from twitter.
http://webddd.blogspot.com/

Comment from dani on 2009-06-08

2009-06-08T15:28:47Z

I do follow more people than the number I have of followers because I wanted to follow at least 2 persons from each country in the world.
chekout my blog...all about global issues and i wana share my thoughts to all over the world..
http://eyeonglobe.blogspot.com/

Comment from psychic readings on 2009-06-08

2009-06-08T13:28:31Z

For now, but only until something new comes along.

Comment from Umang on 2009-06-08

2009-06-08T13:23:50Z

I'll have to disagree with the following the low number of people = not using it daily. I have less than 10 people I'm following, and for good reason. I already use RSS feeds for information I already need, I search on twitter if I'm looking for a particular piece of news I can't find and I follow a very select group so I don't get overwhelmed by the number of tweets per day.

To put in a number based on your assumption to be required as a daily twitter user is totally incorrect.

Comment from (Garin Kilpatrick) on 2009-06-08

2009-06-08T13:21:04Z

Guruvan: Everything fades into obscurity eventually, however I am quite positive that Twitter will be a lasting pillar of the Internet. Twitter really is that big, and it is only going to get bigger, and as it does so will friendfeed (likely at a faster rate).

Comment from erik on 2009-06-08

2009-06-08T12:32:18Z

Is twitter that big? Not in the long run. Because people are so shallow about it, it's likely to fade into obscurity..

Comment from Spammy on 2009-06-08

2009-06-08T11:51:07Z

I have a feeling that one day Google will acquire Twitter then together, they will rule the world, perhaps the entire Universe!

RT
www.anonymity.2ya.com

Comment from Kleidung on 2009-06-08

2009-06-08T11:38:11Z

twitter is really huge but still some of the users are not much familiar with it as alot of people isee dont have avatars too,
i was a similar user after creating my account i didnt tweet till a year cause i was not able understand it and left it,
now i use it alot for updates simlpe searches and what other users say

Comment from Pieter Jansegers on 2009-06-08

2009-06-08T10:32:37Z

I do follow more people than the number I have of followers because I wanted to follow at least 2 persons from each country in the world.

Twitter's uniqueness is just in the fact that nobody has to follow somebody back.

The only regrettable thing is the more recently imposed following limits. It makes multiple account creation a must for anyone who really likes the services...

Comment from Ben on 2009-06-08

2009-06-08T08:45:45Z

"50 percent of Twitter users are following more people than they have as followers"

LOL, Well, duh, and fifty percent of users have more followers than they are following. The only people who wouldn't fit in these two would be those with the same numbers of both, and I bet their aren't many of them.

Comment from Mike Lazarus on 2009-06-08

2009-06-08T08:44:57Z

The real issue is that people who just use Twitter on their web site will never see the point. To get the real advantages of Twitter, you need to use tools like TweetDeck, Thwirl, TwitterFox, SocialScope, etc...

Comment from Deepak jain on 2009-06-08

2009-06-08T07:05:41Z

I think twitter is the great way to express yourself. It gives the medium to comunicate other people. I am very passationate about twitter, so i choose my blog name http://www.twitpassion.com .

Comment from mark on 2009-06-07

2009-06-08T06:30:45Z

I think twitter (and probably Google wave) are a hint of the direction the web is taking. It's evolved into a collaborative sharing network with the potential to reach anyone, and now in real time. This will probably have huge possitive effects on developing nations and other advancements, from science and education to everything, including human rights.

Comment from ronnie on 2009-06-07

2009-06-08T05:37:41Z

Hi ..
Good post .
Informative.

Comment from virtual worlds online for kids on 2009-06-07

2009-06-08T04:42:02Z

Twitter is big in a way that many people know about it yet they may not necessarily use it or like it. It will probably fade away like mySpace in the long run. In my opinion, Twitter is really fun only when you have friends who are also using Twitter actively. The reason for dormant users could be because they have no friends or family to follow on Twitter, which defeats the purpose of using Twitter to communicate. Until another better communication tool comes along, I think Twitter remains as one of the best communication tools around.

Comment from Water meter on 2009-06-07

2009-06-08T03:04:36Z

Twitter has tremendous potential to really change the way ppl communicate.

Comment from guruvan (Rob Nelson) on 2009-06-07

2009-06-08T02:41:50Z

Jim, that's what I thought, and I was in a state of disbelief, since I've tested all the other analyzers, and rate pretty highly most of the time. So, I ran Tweetgrade a second time, about 5 minutes later, and it gave me an A- So I decided it was a broken tool, and neither grade meant anything

Comment from johnny5 on 2009-06-07

2009-06-07T20:44:19Z

I kinda hate twitter...

You should def check this out too its called an Electronic Cigarette

Comment from Bodylastics Reviews on 2009-06-07

2009-06-07T20:43:31Z

Doug, I see twitter as just another fad. Most of these websites including MySpace become popular rise quickly and then fade away. There is no real content on twitter unlike perhaps a website like YouTube or article directories that can provide useful information.

But, I guess it's fun to follow the antics of Ashton Kushner

Comment from Jim on 2009-06-07

2009-06-07T15:04:17Z

I think @Jean-Michel Decombe is correct. Most people want to get their username and then worry about it later.

As for the Tweetgrade; not liking my F considering I use it daily for the last six months and have had over 250 followers in that time. I use it to converse daily and to send/receive links.

What else am I supposed to do to get an A? Makes me want to kill the teacher :)

Comment from Marcus on 2009-06-07

2009-06-07T12:04:15Z

"It's clear that celebrities like Oprah and Ashton Kutcher have made Twitter the "flavor of the month", but there are many people out there who will never quite get it"

I use Twitter as mostly a feed reader. Started with RSS many times, but it's just not as clean and given to easy overview as Twitter is.

RSS is a clumsy, stressful and inelegant implementation of feeds, no matter what RSS reader, and it will never go mainstream like Twitter has or like Facebook's new feeds have.

But not all people have the time or talent to come up with something to express in 140 characters or less that we want to publish publically. Does that make us sheep, like Schonfield claims? Don't make me laugh.

Spending a lot of time on twitter, broadcasting your thoughts there - Sure, if you have that as a hobby or part of your job description, and have the time in your life to express original analysis, comments or just friendly banter, then that's great for you. Most people do not however. That doesn't mean that a short message feed system like twitter can't be beneficial for more regular people though.

You bloggers and journalists are the exceptions when it comes to Twitter, and you should wake up in 2009 and realize that.

Comment from PC on 2009-06-06

2009-06-07T03:25:56Z

Similar hype to MySpace. Always throw out the number of total users instead of regular users. I think it's a cop out to say that this is to be expected as the rate of usage on a site like Facebook is probably much higher for a given normal user than Twitter.

I think this is more proof that Twitter stats are more smoke than fire.

Comment from Jared on 2009-06-06

2009-06-07T01:33:09Z

Brendan makes an awesome point here. I remember when first getting started that it took me a while to find a use case for it -- then I found a few friends and off I went. It helps to jump into something new with your friends, after all.

I always look at it like this: A high percentage of people start blogs. They make a couple posts, and abandon it. The same thing's happening with Twitter. The worrisome thing for Twitter is that because it's centralized, and their business model (whatever it may be) could suffer if people abandon it and don't come back.

Comment from Bob on 2009-06-06

2009-06-07T00:54:37Z

I see Twitter as a medium for receiving information relevant to my interest or affinity group and then disciminating it to my various affinity groups. The information has to be highly relevant to me and my followers.

Comment from Klaus on 2009-06-06

2009-06-06T23:57:41Z

"50 percent of Twitter users are following more people than they have as followers"
If you think about that number, that is hardly surprising. If there are people, who have more followers than people they follow, where would all these followers come from? So there have to be the same number of people, who have less followers than they follow themselves.

Comment from Rob on 2009-06-06

2009-06-06T23:08:00Z

Is twitter that big? Not in the long run. Because people are so shallow about it, it's likely to fade into obscurity.

The proliferation of things like Tweet Grade seem to show this, as well.

And, as a further note: The Purewire Tweet Grade is obviously pathetic. It's giving a tweet grade of A+ to all the celebs, and gave me and "F" on my first run and an "A-" on my second run. Which is it?

Comment from Simon on 2009-06-06

2009-06-06T22:00:30Z

I think Twitter is widely misunderstood, it may recover the less technical in time as it gains critical mass, no offense Oprah we're not there yet.

The Tweet Grade tool is freaking useless, Al Gore and John McCain get A+ (like 100,000 to 1 followers to followed) but accounts with frequent useful updates (i.e. links to articles their followers would find interesting, frequent updates, none of this "going to get lunch" BS are Cs and Fs) apparently this tool is excellent at finding people who believe their Tweets are dramatically better than the poor saps who follow them. I think the best way to use this tool is to reverse the grading scale.

Comment from Fleshlight Reviews on 2009-06-06

2009-06-06T22:00:18Z

I forgot to mention that you can make a twitter account appear active even if it's not being managed by a human. Judicious use of services such as http://twaitter.com to schedule tweets are the way to go. It builds a following on auto-pilot w/o any human intervention.

Comment from Fleshlight Reviews on 2009-06-06

2009-06-06T21:58:16Z

Jean-Michel agreed. Twitter is a great way to grab pages on a high PR domain, especially that twitter is PR9 now. Your profile pages will get a high PR no matter what you do, and as long as you use each profile for a specific niche or subject, you'll be creating web real estate that can only increase in value. Just set and forget, and let it gather PR.

Yes, twitter is nofollow, but with the recent changes in the interpretation of nofollow (see e.g. http://searchenginewatch.com/3633972) its usefulness for creating backlinks is actually increasing, IMHO.

Comment from Jean-Michel Decombe on 2009-06-06

2009-06-06T21:52:39Z

This analysis completely overlooks an obvious reason for dormant accounts. Twitter has been so hyped that people have rushed to reserve their own Twitter name, or names for their companies, products, etc., even if they have yet to put them to good use. It is good thinking because Twitter will not surrender a name to you unless you are being blatantly impersonated. Twitter names are a bit like domain names in a way. I know that I have a dozen accounts myself, all of which are currently dormant except one.

Comment from Joe on 2009-06-06

2009-06-06T21:14:22Z

Dave I think the grade depends somewhat on the speed of growth of your account. So the newer account with about the same number of followers as the older account will get a better grade.

In any case, the point about twitter being a broadcast medium (ie a medium for receiving info rather than one on one interaction) is like "doh". There are way better media than twitter for one on one conversations like email, icq, irc, IM, ... The list goes on. Twitter is different, it is by nature a one to many system, and trying to have a conversation is like shouting over a noisy room's din to be heard :)

Comment from Dave on 2009-06-06

2009-06-06T20:52:34Z

I found Tweet Grade's "grades" to be unbelievable. I compared two of my twitter accounts, one that is a year old with 105 followers and 269 updates, and the other that is just about 2 months old with 149 followers and 364 updates. The oldest received a grade of F and the new one received a grade of B-. Both twitter accounts followed approximately 34 twitterers. Furthermore, I think the account that received an F presents far more useful tweets than the one that received a B-.

Comment from Brendan on 2009-06-06

2009-06-06T20:30:55Z

I think an important aspect that is missed is when people start usig twitter. My account was dormant for a year before I really started using it. It also has to do if you meet/know others who use it.

Comment from ktroia on 2009-06-06

2009-06-06T20:18:07Z

I think Twitter has tremendous potential to really change the way ppl communicate. Less lengthly long winded diatribes, more short bursts of bit-size info. But it's going to take a while for the masses to catch on. Personally, I'm way less interested in staying connected to ppl and more interested in ensuring I'm aware of what's going on from a news/trends/innovation perspective. But that's the business I'm in and what I'm interested in.

Comment from Internet Strategist on 2009-06-06

2009-06-06T20:07:38Z

Twitter is no different than almost any other medium. 2% are likely to be power users, the top 10% are very active, and 90% don't participate much if any. This was true in forums, is true in blogs, is likely to be true of most any other Social Networking site.

Most people by choice are consumers - not distributors. Some of us more than make up for that. :-)