50% of Tweets Consumed Come From .05% of Users
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ajensen201102 writes "A mere 20,000 Twitter users steal almost half of the spotlight on Twitter, which now ropes in a billion tweets every week. That means only 0.05% of the social network's user base attracts attention, according to a new Yahoo Research study. From the article: 'Like findings in previous studies, the researchers for this one conclude Twitter resembles an information-sharing hub rather than a social network, with the top generators garnering huge follower tallies but not following their content consumers in return.'"
Just another proof of Sturgeon's Law (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:WELL! (Score:4, Interesting)
A lot of people (like me) also join and then never use it because they really just don't "get" it. I can already do something similar but more fun on Facebook.
Re:Should we be surprised? (Score:3, Interesting)
Sure most of my Facebook friends are people I would never bother to talk to otherwise, but occasionally there is something worth "liking" or chiming in on. Also, it is great for organising stuff with everyday friends, or getting to know new people better. I prefer to go through my initial awkward/quiet phase with new people online, where I can get comfortable knowing that people actually are speaking to me because they want to, rather than just because we happen to be in the same physical location. Previously I used MSN for that, now it's generally Facebook.
People (and most importantly, women!) get to like me a lot faster when I get a chance to speak to them online rather than just in real life. I'm generally quite quiet with new people until I feel comfortable around them, and a lot of people take that to mean that I just don't want to speak to them, when in fact I'm just not sure if they actually want me speaking to them. Online, especially in non realtime chats, it's really easy to blow someone off - so if someone is speaking to you, you know they actually want to.
Re:Should we be surprised? (Score:3, Interesting)
Foreword: I am not taking part in any social network (well, if you exclude LinkedIn but I am a completely passive user also in that case).
Yet you still feel qualified to comment?
I actually use a social network (Facebook), though generally only the bits I'm interested in (events, status updates, occasionally photos, contact details). I seem to have 280 "friends". Lots of them I ignore most of the time, but I want to passively keep in touch in case they're in London (most are, eventually).
I use it to keep in touch with people who live too far away -- just last week I arranged to meet up with some people I met at a music festival last year at a festival later this year. I found out that my friends in Japan were fine as soon as I heard of the earthquake.
I use it to arrange stuff with people who live near me. A close friend invited me (in person) to his BBQ a couple of weeks ago. "I'm thinking of having a BBQ on Sunday, can you come?" "Yes" "OK, I'll send you a Facebook invite with the details". No doubt 80% of the people invited weren't asked in person, but so what? Your [great-]grandparents would say phoning round is no good, and you should write everyone a letter.
I also use it to get "invites" to gigs/nightclubs/events I like. They conveniently appear on my smartphone's calendar; it seems the easiest way to hear about "special tomorrow: free entry to X before midnight".