Tweet Then Retreat?

We've all done it - signed up for something, tried it a few times, and then promptly moved on to the next thing. Danny over at Digital Dirt would probably agree that this only adds to our online trail, but beyond that, we can also be seriously skewing numbers for social media services like Twitter.

Nielson Online released a report yesterday that said that "currently, more than 60 percent of U.S. Twitter users fail to return the following month, making them 'Twitter Quitters.'" I kind of love that they coined that term, even though it has some serious implications for one of my new favorite social media tools. This is a huge number of people opening accounts and not returning regularly, and even though total number of users are largely unknown (I have seen estimates from 5 million to 19 after the big celebrity showdowns of the last few weeks) the service is still trying to attract marketers and generate revenue, both of which could be seriously compromised if it looks like the lights are on, but nobodies home.

When compared to Facebook and MySpace when they were growing their audiences, Twitter's retention rate numbers look even more woeful:

I am still pretty optimistic though, so don't fret my tweeps - Twitter, in my opinion, is an entirely different animal. While many join to see what its all about, they lose interest when there is no one there to talk to. As more and more people join, those who lost interest will probably give it another go.

As I've mentioned, I joined in order to communicate with a group, and that is what kept me going. Now that friends, colleagues and fun celebrities are in the mix, I am fairly addicted. So no worries, Twitter, they'll come back...they always do.

Twitter Me Your Deepest Thoughts

As I've mentioned in a prior post, I joined Twitter along with the other members of my poker group when we were all attempting the Master Cleanse (don't try this at home) and in need of a support system. Since then, I have been slowly adding contacts - a few current classmates, someone from high school, one coworker who joined and then never came back.

So I had this really tiny little network that was only giving me a few pearls of wisdom a day, and I really wanted more. Enter Twitter celebrities. I went through the list of popular Twitter users, and lo and behold, a whole world opened up to me.

News? Sure I could use some of that. I added CNN, Digg, Kirtsy and Defamer (okay, not so much news, but entertaining nonetheless). Interesting to note, Defamer is the most active, followed closely by Kirtsy...I may hear from CNN and Digg only once a day.

Britney Spears? Check! Of course she hardly ever has anything to say, and I found out soon after I began following her that she doesn't actually do any tweeting herself (kind of like lip-syncing if you ask me).

Then there were those that I would love to hear more from like MSNBC host, Rachel Maddow or Joel McHale from the Soup on E! Maddow occasionally has an opinion to share, but McHale is like a spazz with a microphone saying "Is this thing on?"

Martha Stewart weighs in a few times a day with helpful hints and crisp responses (I so believe it is her, don't try to convince me otherwise), and comedian Michael Ian Black always has something sarcastic, dark and funny to say. These two really maintain their individual voices, and I couldn't ask for more. Way to tweet, guys.

Then I encountered the constant tweeters.

There's Coraline author, Neil Gaiman, who LOVES to tweet. I always knew the guy was a prolific writer, but geez, Neil. He holds contests, links to his blog, talks about projects he is working on (when do you have the time?!) talks about the family.

Only second to Neil is Wil Wheaton. Yes, that's right, I said Wil Wheaton of Star Trek the Next Generation fame. Wil is fairly incessant as well, linking to his blog, talking about the book he is writing, funny things his son says and giving play-by-play for Kings hockey games (really not that interested, Wil, though I appreciate your enthusiasm).

John Hodgman who you may know better as "the PC guy" often asks for help with his book, talks about events he is at, promotes his friends, and on and on. No talk of family or personal life, John? Am I just a tool in your promotion machine?

I tried following Digg founder, Kevin Rose, for a while, but sadly had to drop him. He wrote a lot, but it was always about errands he was running. Big bore.

Twitter completely feeds into my natural voyeuristic tendencies. I love to overhear a juicy conversation, but with Twitter it all comes to me without any work. Love it.

Pulling My Beak

While everyone has been debating how Twitter will monetize their business, the conversation has been focused on information aggregation and advertising. Now check out this fishy video that just happens to have popped up on Wired today...April 1. Come on people, I don't believe you for a minute.



Still I do appreciate the humor, and even like the idea of sorting tweets by friends and celebrities. However, who in the their right mind would carry around yet another device, especially one that is basically a tricked-out pager?

Wired guys Danny Dumas and Steven Leckart, I like your style. Just one word of advice - you should have gotten the Twitter folks to post this in the "What's next for Twitter?" section of the site. Amateurs!

Buggy Backward Bebo

All of my social networking in one place? Yes please! Having to deal with AOL to do it? No thank you.

From my experience with Real Simple a few posts back, I learned that women sure are into organizing. Even I occasionally get the bug, so when I recently read that AOL had launched their Lifestream information aggregation tool by way of their Bebo social networking site, I was definitely intrigued. In a nutshell, this service takes all your updates, pictures, emails, etc. from sites like Flickr, Facebook, Gmail, AIM, Del.icio.us and Twitter and (in theory) lets you view them all on one handy-dandy dashboard. Cool idea - if it actually works.

I created my Bebo account using my old, clunky, no longer in use AIM handle and found (surprise, surprise) that none of my old AIM contacts were using Bebo. I would have to import contacts from other avenues like my Gmail address book. I wasn't about to drag others into this thing before I knew what I was dealing with.

After an oversimplified sign-in to add my major social networks, I found that the only feed I was seeing within my Lifestream, sad little existence that it was, were my tweets. Aggregator indeed. Facebook was completely MIA. I even tried updating my status there to see if anything showed up, but that didn't work. Now of course, something probably went wrong with my initial sign-up, but an exaustive, time-consuming search of the site left me with no idea how I could fix it.

At any rate, this is what it is supposed to look like:



So I was left with a fairly empty profile page needing to be built from scratch. There were all kinds of tools and apps available to build that page, but why should I be reinventing the wheel when I already have other social networks that fill my needs? I think my biggest reluctance to embrace Bebo is from my perception of AOL. I left AOL years and years ago, never looking back. They would have to do something major to win me over, and sadly for them, this isn't it.

Anatomy of a Media Meltdown - "Are you not entertained?"

On the February 11 Late Show with David Letterman Joaquin Phoenix appeared to promote his new film Two Lovers. Who knows if it is a good film or not, but it certainly wasn't what had people buzzing the next day.

The mostly quiet and often incoherent Phoenix appeared to either be on something or simply committing career suicide. Others have speculated that was all part of some elaborate hoax. At any rate, feel free to weigh in.



While an entertaining tidbit to break up my day, I was more interested in how the event was spreading virally. I had not seen the clip the night it aired, but the next day I received an email and an IM from two friends sending me the link to the clip on You Tube. Another friend had posted it on Facebook. I checked into my Twitter feed and saw a tweet from Defamer about it. Later in the week as I perused CNN.com I saw Anderson Cooper had weighed in and was showing a remixed version of the segment. I finished my week discussing it with my coworkers and we ended up watching it again. They even parodied it on the February 14 Saturday Night Live.

Though there were certainly bigger, more important news stories last week, it amazed me how many times that one interview kept coming up. Which seriously made me doubt the randomness of the event. I haven't heard much about the film that Phoenix was supposedly plugging. I also hadn't seen the actor's newly disheveled appearance, though I had heard he was retiring from acting to pursue his "music." Whether a calculated move or unplanned meltdown, the generated buzz was astounding. Celebrities have always been under the microscope, but now that everyone is so plugged in the scrutiny is overwhelming. Marketers and celebrity "brands" alike need to be aware that they can harness this kind of attention or have their image carried away by it.