Twitter is growing like a mofo, but are people “using” it?
This just in: Twitter is popular as hell, folks.
As I look at this I ask, what is the tip of the Twitter growth graph? Facebook has been growing at an amazing rate for a LONG time now. Can Twitter keep this up?
But the real question to me is, what are the “usage” growth numbers?
Big difference there over just the number of people that have started using the service. With Facebook, people are more hesitant to sign up and try it out. Feels like a big commitment. But once they do, typically they immediately connect with a few friends that they were out of touch with and BAM, they’re hooked.
Twitter is the opposite. Most people aren’t worried to sign up, so they do, and BAM, they’re incredibly bored. No one is talking to them, they aren’t hooking up with old high school friends, and its not that easy to get conversations going out of the gate.
So I question these statistics because they only represent the interest level of Twitter, which is off the charts. Everyone is talking about it. I can’t watch TV anymore without seeing a mention of Twitter in either the commercials or the program.
But the growth of usage isn’t anywhere close to these numbers, and that’s what worries me.
Jeff –
Love the contrast you make between Twitter and Facebook. Unlike Facebook, what makes Twitter sticky for some won't necessarily translate uniformly to everyone. As I mentioned in my comment to Sherry's recent post – I think the “true usage” will eventually boil down to the intent/motive of individuals, rather than the mass “shiny new toy love affair” that seems to be pervading. Hopefully, people will stick with it long enough to find, tap into and create more value before it becomes a wasteland for spammers and the like.
Jeff –
Love the contrast you make between Twitter and Facebook. Unlike Facebook, what makes Twitter sticky for some won't necessarily translate uniformly to everyone. As I mentioned in my comment to Sherry's recent post – I think the “true usage” will eventually boil down to the intent/motive of individuals, rather than the mass “shiny new toy love affair” that seems to be pervading. Hopefully, people will stick with it long enough to find, tap into and create more value before it becomes a wasteland for spammers and the like.