Mashable.com offers a shocking statistic. Only 7% of Americans are on twitter; while half of Americans are on Facebook. With the recent protests in Egypt and the unrest in Libya, social media sites including Twitter have gained a lot of global attention. How are the numbers for the up and coming social media site Twitter so low? I found this to be shocking. Why do you think Facebook is a lot more successful than Twitter?
Are you on Twitter? If you are, how would you describe Twitter to someone who doesn't use it? What is your purpose on Twitter? Who do you follow? and How often do you tweet?
If you are not on Twitter, what has kept you from joining? Has the recent media attention made you consider joining Twitter? What do you think the purpose of Twitter is? Or are you confused about the purpose behind it?
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http://mashable.com/2011/02/24/facebook-twitter-number/
These statistics don't really surprise me. Many people are just naturally drawn to facebook rather than twitter.
ReplyDeleteI do have a twitter account that I had to create for a class but I haven't used it since. If I had to explain it, I would say it's a tool to give short pieces of information about a person or a group to let people know what they are doing.
I personally have never tweeted.
I think facebook is the social network of choice for more people because it is where their friends are. There is no point to being on Twitter if none of your friends are to communicate with. When I think of Twitter I think of the social network site for celebrities. I know none of my friends will be there so I have no interest. I'm not sure what the purpose of Twitter is other than to "follow" celebrity tweets and whoever else you follow. I guess I am a little confused on the purpose.
ReplyDeleteI have not joined Twitter although it does seem interesting. I have read in a various amount of magazines that celebrities tweet things that spark their fans' attention. I have not joined Twitter because I heard that you get the tweets sent to your cell phone; I have a pre-paid plan and it costs me a lot of money to send and receive texts. I am not sure if this is true about Twitter, and I have not had anyone say I should get a Twitter when people used to tell me I should get a Facebook. I now have one. I would consider getting a Twitter if I knew more about it and was influenced by my friends to get one. I don't know if there is a true purpose to Twitter, I feel that it is similar to Facebook but maybe more like a blog. I really do not know too much about it.
ReplyDeleteThis numbers do come as a surprise to me. I love Twitter, I'm on it as much as I'm on Facebook. However, Twitter is still sort of new and can be confusing for a first time user. It is also insanely overwhelming since so many people are yelling at each other at once.
ReplyDeleteFacebook is more popular because it is simpler, more personal, and has more features. And yeah, the entire movie was pretty good advertisement.
I'm on twitter and I love it. Its a great way to find out how your favorite celebrities are doing and if lucky enough, they'll answer one of your tweets. I really have no purpose on Twitter and would describe it as information in 140 characters or less. I tweet several times a day, and follow everyone from Adam Lambert, Twitter Whale, Mike Posner, Batman, Peter Griffon, Billie Joe Armstrong, Snooki, and Jesus.
I personally don't find these statistics to be that shocking because I hear people talking more about facebook then twitter. I find facebook to be more successful because I feel that it has more to offer. Both sites have the updating statuses tool but facebook has so much more such as photos, videos and what people like. I myself don't have a twitter and I don't plan on getting one anytime soon. I just find it to be confusing and somewhat a waste of time if I'm already updating my status on facebook. Plus most of my friends are on facebook and if their not their not on twitter either, so I personally feel that there really is no need for me to have one. Only a few of my friends and family memebers have a twitter and they have tried to explian it to me and why they have one but I just don't find it interesting enough to join.
ReplyDeleteI think why they are so low is because people don’t think twitter is all that it has been cracked up to be. Honestly facebook gets someone more involved then twitter and allows you to adventure more. I am not on twitter. The thing that has kept me from going on to twitter is that I find it rather pointless. No I will still not join. I think the purpose of twitter is to post a status and reply to one.
ReplyDeleteI'm not really surprised that not a lot of people have a twitter. I am one of the 7% of Americans that does have a twitter, but I don't really tweet. The only reason I started mine was because I was able to enter in a radio contest where you could find the 'secret word' on twitter. After that, I just check out the news on my favorite shows, which is tweeted on almost a daily basis. I don't often tweet because I'm not really followed by anyone I know. I think facebook is more popular because there is so much more to do on facebook than on twitter. There are games and quizes while twitter just has the tweets and trends.
ReplyDeleteI would describe twitter as a way to put out information in a short, straight forward way (140 characters or less).
I signed up for twitter a while back, but never really used it. I don't really understand how to use it and don't really feel a necessity to be a part of twitter. I know a lot of people who are all about it and I just don't see the attraction. I would definately be one of those people who does not see the total purpose for twitter, but again I am not that interested in digging into its meaning. I do use facebook and find that to be a huge time-eater and for myself, engaging in another media tool would probably not be beneficial for me. I may be more interested or apt to use twitter if I had a better grasp of the whole meaning behind it. When I did sign up I was totally lost and had no clue how or where I should navigate. So as a result, I have not been back to it since.
ReplyDeleteThe statistic about 7% of Americans on Twitter does not surprise me at all. I believe that participating in Twitter is a form of social media overload. I do not need to know what people are thinking and doing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I don’t believe that my life is so interesting that people would need to follow me and read my tweets all day long. I use social media tools as a form of communication with family and friends, and am able to do so on Facebook alone. I have looked up specific people/group’s Twitters before though. I frequently visited Twitter news pages regarding the tsunami/earthquake in Japan, as well as the protests in Egypt. It was nice to keep up on what is going on around the world, as it is actually helping. I do not believe that I will ever give Twitter the time of day when it comes to my own personal tweets. How much is too much? I feel like people are relying so heavily on social media that you seem to escape into the world of the Internet. I find that Twitter becomes important in connecting people to real-world events that they may not be able to hear about otherwise. I think the purpose of Twitter was to connect people’s thoughts and opinions, as well as keeping normal everyday people attached to the Hollywood scene. Almost all people under the spotlight seem to have a Twitter account, whereas everyday people are able to keep up with their lives. This does not interest me whatsoever. I suppose that I do understand that Twitter was another way to trend topics and embrace more people within the world of social media. It really interests me to find out what social media tools will be used in the future. How much more can people really be involved in other people’s lives?
ReplyDeleteI feel as if Twitter is less successful that Facebook because in Twitter you basically write down thoughts and ideas at the very moment you are having them. Facebook is more of a comfy place to show pictures, write things you feel like letting the world know, and basically have a relationship through. Twitter is just in the moment, in the second kind of social media.
ReplyDeleteI have my own Twitter account and would describe twitter as being a place where you can express yourself no matter what. I have friends that tweet everything from the point they wake up to the point they go to sleep, while other just tweet when something big happens to them or they have a quote/idea they would like to share with everyone else. I follow all of my friends who have twitter accounts, as well as a few famous people, designers, stores, and of course family. I tweet about every half hour if I’m having a busy day, but on a slow day I tweet every minute. Sometimes I even go to Twitter jail, which is twitter telling you to stop tweeting for a while and take a break.
I actually started a Twitter account but never followed through with it. The reason for this was that, at the time, I had adopted an anti-technological ideology, but that's a whole 'nother story. The reason that only 7% of Americans are on Twitter, I think, is because of the limitations of Twitter. Posts on Twitter can only be up to 140 characters and cannot feature images. I believe that Twitterers are a niche market and it is clearly not for everyone. I can see why people like it though. Because the information is given in short bursts, it has to be condensed and therefore every word is more meaningful. If I were to resume my Twitter account, I would probably use it to either create poetry, give updates on my band or other musical projects or provide links to various things that I do. Twitter can also be looked at as a kind of collective consciousness of the world when all tweets are viewed as a whole. It’s sort of like a mad genius viewing a wall of TV screens, trying to figure out what the general mood of the world is so he can unfurl his master plan.
ReplyDeleteI am not on Twitter at all. I find it to be too much useless information. Certainly I recognize its potential from what has happened in Egypt and Libya. They are using it as a needed, revolutionary tool because they are suffering under harsh regimes. Here in our country, even though we are suffering through an economic downturn, we are still doing pretty well compared to other places in the world. Twitter here is in my opinion being used for social chit-chat. That's fine. I'm just not interested. If I want to communicate with somebody, I'll talk to them face to face. Some opportunities that exist on Twitter that I do recognize are celebrity scedule releases and related information for interested fans. I don't use FaceBook either. But Facebook seems to have more options. I don't really know all that much about either or, and don't really care to. And I don't think that is a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I will admit that I was a bit hesitant of joining twitter at first, I finally gave into the temptation and joined the social network almost 2 years ago. If I wanted to describe twitter to someone who does not use it I would tell them to use it mainly for networking purposes because that is the best way to get the whole “twitter experience.” I would also have to explain the twitter lingo and the way it works such as using @ to reply to a person, or “retweet” (RT) when you want to share another user’s tweet with your timeline, checking the “trending topics,” and using “hashtags.” I actually thought twitter was a little complicated at first because of the many different things to do on it. Now, since I am more twitter friendly I know the “ins and outs” so to speak. I tweet pretty frequently but have spurts of “non tweeting” moments when I just don’t have anything interesting to say. I also am beginning to notice that twitter is a popularity contest as in the prettiest face, funniest comedian, or most famous celebrity with the most followers gets the most action and followers. I follow about 500 people who are a good mix of celebs, activists, politicians, and people who can become future business prospects. I also network with bloggers, and other public relations professionals since that is my career goal after I graduate. My main focus on twitter is making connections in the field of entertainment and pr. When you use twitter as a networking medium you really are making successful connections and does work for that.
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ReplyDeleteI feel that Facebook is more effective and popular as a form of social media because it gives users more options. On Twitter, you have the option to follow people, create a tweet with less than 160 characters, and re-tweet something that another person posted. On Facebook, you have the option to upload photos and videos and store them in an album, talk to your friends directly instead of through tagged posts, create notes if you have something to say that is more than 160 characters, display more personal information, and 'like' certain movies, people, groups, books, and music. From what I have experienced, this makes Facebook much more user friendly, and it appeals to a variety of people. Rather than appealing to only the people who wish to communicate in a limited number of characters, Facebook gives its users access to new media in a multitude of different ways.
ReplyDeleteI actually just started a Twitter account last week, and so far I am indifferent about the whole thing. I do like being able to see what my favorite celebrities and public figures have to say, and being updated on the news is a nice bonus. But at the same time, I find myself having a hard time keeping up with it. Most of the time I feel like I have nothing noteworthy, or even remotely important, to say. So far I have not tweeted more than five or six times, and I only follow about five people. I would say that the purpose of Twitter is to briefly interact with people who share your interests, as well as to keep updated with what's going on in the world. And to be honest, I would probably have a hard time explaining Twitter to someone who is unfamiliar with it, as I am still relatively unfamiliar with it myself.