As noted yesterday in this blog, a recent Nielsen report revealed that up to 60 percent of those who sign up for Twitter quit within a month. Nettie Hartsock questions the conclusions being drawn by this study, and cites Robert Strohmeyer of PC World who has a different take on this study, suggesting that so-called quitters simply don’t understand Twitter. He writes:
“In my opinion, the most commonly heard complaints about Twitter stem from a misunderstanding of it. Chief among these complaints is the utterly bunk assertion that it’s just a whole bunch of people heralding the trivial events of their daily lives into the void. (i.e., “I’m going to the bathroom now!” or “Eating a yummy ham sandwich!”) Frankly, if that’s how you’re using Twitter, you’re doing it wrong, and you should stop without subjecting your friends to a full week of that rubbish, let alone a full month.”
Nettie Hartsock has a explanation why the number of quitters is so high. It is because the Twitter interface is so poor that many people use alternative applications, like Tweetdeck in receiving and sending Tweets. But the Nielsen study didn’t count them, and they were seen as quitters, when, in fact, they are often the heaviest users. She writes:
“…the Nielsen Online study did not take into account how folks are using tools like TweetDeck to manage their tweets. So the findings are a bit suspect in terms of data as none of the tools outside of logging into the actual Twitter site were counted as part of the stats.”
Read the two posts, and draw your own conclusions. (GW)
To Tweet or Not to Tweet – is that really still the question? | Hartsock Agency | Nettie Hartsock | 30 April 2009
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
HI Gary
Thanks for the link love. I also have to say that I’m a giant fan of Workplacelearningtoday as you know already!
Nettie
Nettie Hartsocks last blog post..Free tools to Grade Your Website, Press Release, and Gobbledygook
I am one of those who quit tweeting, and I wish many others would as well. I don’t know how I signed up to get tweets from those bitches at The View, but after Saturday night, when Shari what’s-her-name tweeted every ten seconds about the celebs she saw at the SNL wrap party, I want no more part of it. It’s a narcissist’s dream and a nightmare for the rest of us.