Tweet today, gone tomorrow? Are Twitters really quitters?
Tweet today, gone tomorrow? Are Twitters really quitters? A new research study from Nielson Online, who measure Interent traffic, has apparently discovered that more than 60 per cent of Twitter users quit using the micro blogging site within a month of joining.
In the absence of such sensitive data from Twitter, the research was based on internet traffic, and has been widely reported online as knocking the value of Twitter.
However, surely what is more important is the number of people who do keep using it? While their numbers may be smaller, the calibre of these people is much higher. Many of those who have Tweeted and faded away must have had their curiousity piqued by the media hype around Twitter, and the celebrity users who thrive on the service, but had not been convinced by its value.
Internet Psychologist Graham Jones (check out his contribution to our free resources - not least The Beginners Guide to Twitter) blogged earlier this week on another alarmist statistic from the research: 'Nine out of ten people won't use Twitter' - and then argued eloquently how brilliant this is and we concur.
Early adopters - those curious creatures who create the bandwagons that everyone else jumps upon are better informed, usually better funded and more aware of the potential of new ideas. As such they are more likely to share their views within their community - online naturally - and could create the buzz that turns your product or service into the next big thing.
Believe it or not, but the web is not yet a commodity. Many businesses do not yet have websites and many homes are not yet online. It will be a long time before something like Twitter - and let's face it, it probably will not be Twitter as we know it - becomes as ubiqitous as the mobile telephone.
Morgan PR's founder, Nigel Morgan, started using Twitter in December 2007, way before all this froth and hype, and yet even we did not realise its true potential until earlier this year, 2009. Click the logo to follow Nigel Morgan on Twitter.
Of course, being an early adopter of Twitter does give you a great opportunity in terms of public relations - precisely because of the hype that goes with early adoption. If you can work out how to use Twitter to create business for your business then we should do business!
Seriously, Morgan PR is already encouraging clients to exploit this opportunity and they are reaping the rewards. How could you use Twitter? Come to that, do you know how much social media could help your business? We do - just ask!