Is Twitter Really That Big?
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.
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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. :-)
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.
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.
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.
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-.
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 :)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
"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.
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.
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.
Posted by: Jared
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June 6, 2009 6:33 PM
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.
"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.
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.
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.
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. That's just fine for me.
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 :)
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
I kinda hate twitter...
You should def check this out too its called an Electronic Cigarette
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
Posted by: guruvan (Rob Nelson)
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June 7, 2009 7:41 PM
Twitter has tremendous potential to really change the way ppl communicate.
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.
Hi ..
Good post .
Informative.
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.
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 .
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...
"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.
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...
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
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
Is twitter that big? Not in the long run. Because people are so shallow about it, it's likely to fade into obscurity..
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).
Posted by: (Garin Kilpatrick)
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June 8, 2009 6:21 AM
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.
For now, but only until something new comes along.
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/
Twitter has tremendous potential to really change the way ppl communicate.
chek my blog i got realy resul from twitter.
http://webddd.blogspot.com/
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/
This goes for just about any social network.
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.
Posted by: guruvan (Rob Nelson)
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June 8, 2009 12:26 PM
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.
wACK!!Thats all I can say bout Twitter!! :-{
ktroia:
"Soylent Green is ppl!" ??
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!
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/
Twitter has tremendous potential to really change the way ppl communicate.
chek my blog i got realy resul from twitter.
http://webddd.blogspot.com/
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).
You can see if you are big on twitter by: http://imbigontwitter.com :=)
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.
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.
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 ...
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.
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