Do you twitter?
 

I still don't think I will ever twitter - was debating with a colleague recently and although they seemed to get something out of it it's not something I'm likely to do.

What about you?

Is quitting Twitter more popular than re-tweeting? by AP: Yahoo! Tech

Is quitting Twitter more popular than re-tweeting?

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Technology Writer - Thu Apr 30, 2009 5:14PM EDT

SAN FRANCISCO -
Twitter quitters outnumber the flock of habitual tweeters on the rapidly growing online communications service, a new study suggests.

Most people aren't joining the Web site's jumble of conversations for very long. More than 60 percent of Twitter's U.S. users don't return a month later, based on an analysis of traffic trends unveiled this week by the research firm Nielsen Online.

The lackluster retention rate of 40 percent suggests many people don't see the point in spending time on Twitter, which allows anyone to write about what they're doing or what's on their mind in messages, or "tweets," limited to 140 characters.

While some of the chirping is entertaining, thought-provoking or just downright helpful, much of the chatter can be quite banal as people update when they are eating, drinking and even puking.

Nielsen's conclusions initially were ridiculed by some Twitter fans because the research firm didn't attempt to account for applications on mobile phones and other devices that bypass the Web site.

That limitation raised the possibility that Nielsen was wrongly characterizing some active users as Twitter quitters, prompting the firm to measure the alternative methods for tweeting. Nielsen still found about 60 percent of Twitter users aren't sticking around.

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about Nielsen Online's findings.

Despite the defectors, Twitter is amassing an impressive audience. In March, the San Francisco-based service attracted a U.S. audience of 13.9 million, up from roughly 500,000 users at the same juncture last year, Nielsen said.

Given that Twitter received an endorsement from Oprah Winfrey on her television show in April, that month's numbers will likely be substantially higher.

A high turnover rate isn't unusual when a young Web site starts to catch on, but 3-year-old Twitter is losing users at a quicker pace than Facebook and MySpace did at comparable stages of their growth, according to Nielsen.

Both Facebook and MySpace were retaining about 60 percent a few years ago and now are holding on to about 70 percent of their traffic.

"Twitter has enjoyed a nice ride over the last few months, but it will not be able to sustain its meteoric rise without establishing a higher level of user loyalty," David Martin, Nielsen Online's vice president of primary research, wrote in a blog posting.

Nope, But it's been discussed.
Everytime i hear the term I think of
the word twit.

http://www.xoutpost.com/off-topic/lo...n-twitter.html
http://www.xoutpost.com/off-topic/lo...ter-whore.html

Me too!!!! I thought it was just because I grew up more with UK English.

I can't get myself to use Twitter. It just seems silly. I find Facebook bad enough in terms of "people's status" and what they're doing. LinkedIn is different -- that's a good thing.

:iagree: I'm on board with LinkedIn also, but thats it for the social online stuff.

Yes I twitter, but only when I don't 'tap' him enough times after going.

Hell no, won't use it. I hate MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

Will you be my friend? How gay.

ps. Yes, I have tried them all, still don't like them. If I was a lonely 13 year old girl, attention whore, enjoyed putting my life on display to strangers, or otherwise felt compelled to be connected to others 24/7, maybe I would. Millions love the concept, I'm just not one of them. Diff' strokes.

Letting other twits (who really don't care) know what you're doing at any given time (which they care even less about) seems really pointless.

Unless I'm a thief and want to break into your 7000 sq ft house. While you're away for the weekend in Phoenix sipping martinis solo and twittering away on your iPhone because you have no real friends. Hmmmm....

Nope...Life is too short as it is and it would cut into my XOutpost time.

Actually, that's a good point! I'm not talking about the "how gay", I'm talking about the "will you be my friend".

It's not even your friends that you're twitting -- it could be any celebrities. It could be anyone who you think has a more interesting life than yours... Who cares what they're doing? I don't get it.

Guilty. I use it :)

If you use it and people you know use it, you'll see a point to it. If you don't, you will not. Pretty simple ;) Like most things, I've never watched American Idol but I get while people watch it.

And the unbelievable part, people follow me......:rofl:

:bustingup :bustingup That really does crack me up. I was actually wondering, out of the regular posters, who might use Twitter. I suspected that you might be one :D

:D:D:D

I spend almost all day on a computer because of work and it really does let me keep in touch with people. It would be that or using the phone/email all day and if you have a job that actually uses email, you know that you don't want more email ;)

Oh and not everybody posts things like "I'm up" a large bulk are links to news or updates about breaking news, things like that. Again, if you've never used it or seen it used it is kind of hard to say "pointless".

Yeah, I use it. I agree with Wagner: if you know how to use it, you get it. If not, you'll hate it. I keep in touch with a few friends via Twitter. I'm also on Facebook and LinkedIn. What can I tell you, I'm uber-connected.

I don't twitter, myspace or facebook. I can't even say I don't get it, I've never tried. :dunno:

No tweeting here...and I don't think I ever will. Facebook is enough for me. I rarely log into myspace anymore.

BTW...shouldn't the thread title be "Do you tweet?" :dunno:

Yup. It's Twitter, but you "tweet." The messages are also called tweets.

And the people who do it are called twits? ;)

Most of them are, yes! :)

Hey Michelle -

I don't know. I've seen both used, just checked them both out on a google search and it looks like people are using both.

Checking out Wiki on it now- lots of other interesting facts here too...they have raised a ton of VC money so far.

Twitter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I use it and like others said, it helps keep in touch with people.

I've been watching twits tweet. Entertaining
when I can figure out what the twit their
talking about..:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Facebook is enough. Tweeting or twittering or twanging is just an unnecessary item.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: Awesome. Couldn't have said it better. Not on any of those. This forum is enough for me as far as internet friends go. If I like you that much, I will pick up the damn phone or drive over to your house. Otherwise, forgettaboutit. :D

That's about the funniest thing you have ever said.....:bustingup:bustingup

<opinion>
Twitter is a largely useless phenomenon attractive to the subset of the population that thinks that each bowel movement taken is a noteworthy event to be shared. You'll find Twitter at the intersection of Stalker and Egoist.
</opinion>