Tag Archives: early social web

The Twitter Quitters Story – Not All Bad News?

There’s a lot of discussion out there about a recent Nielsen report stating that 60% of new Twitter users stop using the service after one month. 60% is a big number but I find it interesting that the number has actually improved recently. From the report:

Currently, more than 60 percent of Twitter users fail to return the following month, or in other words, Twitter’s audience retention rate, or the percentage of a given month’s users who come back the following month, is currently about 40 percent. For most of the past 12 months, pre-Oprah, Twitter has languished below 30 percent retention.

First of all, I don’t think that a single event like Oprah joining Twitter should be singled out as the reason for a 10% improvement (30% to 40%) in user retention. I actually think that the improvement is due to the much criticized suggested users list that Twitter introduced several months ago. Before the suggested users list was introduced, new users started with a blank slate – Following 0 and 0 Followers. Twitter has always provided a way for people to locate friends by email address (similar to Facebook) but for the non-tech crowd, this might only result in a few matches and there is no guarantee that those people are active on Twitter. And while there are some pretty good third-party Twitter directories out there, most new users don’t have a clue where to find those. As a result, many new Twitter users log on to their account and see just a few updates a day from a handful of people. When they compare this to other social networking sites like Facebook, this makes Twitter look useless and they stop using it. Twitter’s suggested users list certainly isn’t perfect, but at least it gives new users some content to look at versus a blank page.

links for 2009-04-17

Twitter Backlash :: Where Sanity Prevails
From the About page…

How did a technology of such simplicity gain overwhelming popularity in a relatively short amount of time? Now that an estimated five million users send a tweet at least once a month, what is its effect on society overall and how we conduct our day-to-day lives?

There are three main reasons that Twitter has become a dynamic part of our national discussion:

Text Messaging: Twitter is essentially text messaging writ large. Taking a cue from our friends in Asia, texting has become the dominant communication method for the 25-and-under populace. Any technology that plays off of that has a head start in gaining acceptance. It’s a natural extension to go from sending a message to one friend to sending a message to many simultaneously.
Simplicity: The subject matter of every tweet is predetermined: it’s the answer to the question “What are you doing?” Unlike a blog where creativity and uniqueness are theoretically expected and rewarded, Twitter thrives in the mundane aspects of everyday life. Its content is limited. It is meant to be disposable.
Narcissism: Twitter follows in the footsteps of Facebook and MySpace. It is taken for granted that Twitter users truly believe that their followers genuinely care what they are currently doing. By issuing or responding to a tweet, a person feels socially connected, however brief and tenuous that connection may be.

Any technology that provides a simple way to disseminate information to a wide audience instantly has enormous power and potential benefits to society and individuals alike. Instances that require this, however, are rare. Instead, Twitter has become the definition of banal.

So is this Web site anti-Twitter? Not necessarily. Rarely is the technology to blame, but rather how it is used and, in many cases, abused. As it gains popular acceptance, more and more examples present themselves that exemplify this abuse, particularly as the early adopters give way to the technology laggards. That’s what will be covered here.

That’s when the backlash begins.

San Francisco Based Twitter Accounts (response to @ev)

Earlier tonight, Twitter CEO Ev Williams posted this tweet:

If you know of San Francisco businesses or other SF-related Twitter accts, lemme know. Preparing slides for @gavinnewsom‘s visit tomorrow.

Of course, the responses came flooding in.

Here’s a round-up of the responses. This includes both Twitter accounts related to San Francisco and companies based in San Francisco.

@21stAmendment – Craft Beer Brewery Restaurant delving into the world of canned craft beer
@7x7Magazine – 7×7 is San Francisco’s premier resource for Food, Fashion, Culture, Music, Nightlife, Parties and more. Go to 7×7.com to get to know San Francisco
@7x7Radar – 7×7 Magazine’s Radar on SF Culture, Art, Entertainment and Events
@ABC7NewsBayArea – News and notes directly from the ABC7 newsroom in San Francisco
@AsianArtMuseum – We’re the largest museum in the western world devoted exclusively to Asian art
@BayAreaBites – Bay Area Bites is KQED Public Media’s food blog
@Booksmith – San Francisco’s leading independent bookstore
@Caltrain – Caltrain service delays provided by riders. See URL for instructions to update
@ChronicleBooks – An independent publisher of distinctive books and gifts
@Coco_luxe – Coco-luxe Confections: luxurious truffles, salted caramels & sweets – To Share, or Not!
@CSNBayArea – CSN Bay Area and CSN California. Home of the Giants, A’s, Warriors, Sharks, Kings, Cal and Stanford
@Current – Tweets from within the walls of Current.com HQ
@Disqus
@DropBox
@Emergency_In_SF – Follow some of the larger emergencies in San Francisco as they happen
@Exploratorium – For the curious ones, the Exploratorium is a museum of science, art, and human perception
@FrogDesign – Global innovation firm that helps create and bring to market meaningful products, services, and experiences
@GetSatisfaction – The support network for people to get the most from the products they use.
@GhiradelliSQ – More than just the best chocolate! Wine tasting, great food and fun shopping
@GoldenGatePark – Up-To-Date Events & News on Golden Gate Park
@JDVHotels – Joie de Vivre is California’s largest boutique hotel collection, with over 30 hotels, restaurants and spas throughout the state
@JugShop – Specialists in Australia, NZ & Italian wines, specialty spirits, craft beer
@KCBSNews – All News All the Time
@KGORadio – The Bay Area’s most listened to radio station for over 30 years
@kqed_arts – KQED Arts is a daily blog covering the San Francisco Bay Area
@Live105 – LIVE 105.3 KITS San Francisco
@MagnoliaPub – Haight and Masonic
@missionpie – A corner cafÃ©, bakery, and neighborhood gathering place in the Mission that brings the flavors of local farms into the city and tells their stories.
@MuniDiaries – a place to share and read rider tales
@SanFranSymphony – San Francisco Symphony & Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas sets the highest standard of excellence in orchestral performance in over 250 concerts a year
@Seesmic
@SFRestaurants – Where do want to eat Tonight? Ask Dave….
@sf_49ers – Official Twitter of the San Francisco 49ers
@sf_giants – Official Twitter of the San Francisco Giants
@SF_Weekly – The latest from SFWeekly.com as told by web editor Janine Kahn
@SFStateCreativeArts – Media, Performing, Visual Arts at San Francisco State University
@sfbc – Promoting the bicycle for everyday transportation
@sfearthquakes – The SF Bay Area sometimes shakes. I tell you about it
@SFist – Everything else you to know about SF & the Bay Area, news, arts, entertainment, politics, gossip, more
@sfstation – SF Station is San Francisco Bay Area’s definitive online city guide to Arts & Culture, Entertainment, Food, Shopping, and Urban Living
@sfzoo – The mission of the San Francisco Zoo is to connect people with wildlife, inspire caring for nature and advance conservation action (my pick)
@spotus – We support journalists in the Bay Area through community funded reporting
@TCHOchocolate – TCHO makes obsessively good dark chocolate from pod to palate in our San Francisco factory
@Technorati – Who’s saying what. Right now.
@TripIt – TripIt is a personal travel assistant that automatically organizes all your travel plans
@Xobni – Xobni is a toolbar for Outlook
@WoodenBoat – Historic wooden boatyard & nonprofit maritime museum on San Francisco Bay. Rod Bauer, Webmaster (schooner, sailboat, rowboat, woodworking, sailing)
@Zeum – Zeum is San Francisco’s hands-on, multimedia arts and tech museum for kids.