I guess that by now everybody has read Twitter’s blog post and other sources saying that the number of tweets is growing, some of them shouting out how much people tweet these days.
Tweets, those timely bits of information, have found a special place in today’s global network of people. It is simple to use Twitter. The micro-blogging platform is accessible and great to inform your followers or friends about what you’re doing, thinking, bookmarking, blogging about, etc. Twitter also has that community building aspect that is missing in IM and SMS, other ways to chat or share information.
Those are not the only reasons for the success of Twitter. There is the effect one tweet can have: speed, reach (the power of retweets), global spread, you name it. On top of that, Twitter can be accessed through more than 50,000 third party Internet and mobile applications, giving users enough flexibility.
You write a short message, and it spreads across the globe immediately. Twitter gives you a platform to let people know what you think and voice your opinion on what’s going on, and it keeps you informed on matters that matter to you. It’s both talking and listening. And there is so much buzz that you can simply not follow it all (and of course that’s not a must, information and communication overload, you know).
Twitter has found immense acceptance for being a simple yet effective global information network based on real time communications. The growth of Twitter is evident if you look at the number of tweets created per day as the Twitter team recently posted them. In that post, the phenomenal growth of Twitter over the last three years was shown, including a comprehensive graphic.
According to the Twitter analytics team, the number of tweets created per day has increased drastically from merely 2.5 million in the beginning of 2009 to 50 million in 2010. Last year, it grew by an enormous 1400%. These numbers, when compared with 5,000 tweets a day in 2007 and 300,000 in 2008, clearly illustrate the impressive growth story of Twitter.
All tweets have a right to exist but some are **** boring, disturbing and evil
The blog post says that tweets from accounts identified as spam have been removed from the data. Cool. But what about tweets that are sent from so-called “Twitter ad networks”?
I have tested some of them and when digging deeper found that many of the Twitter users that are sending out ads have multiple accounts that are built up with automated follow and unfollow systems.
Hey, people at Twitter, thanks for your platform and allowing me here. But why not go beyond your advertising solutions that really aren’t advertising solutions? And why no system that allows people to see the difference between ads and just tweets? Or are we going for self-regulation? OK for me, love self-regulation, hate spam and disguised ads though.
What about all those fake accounts? The bots? The BS? The attacks we have been witnessing in recent days (“Hey, is that you?”)?
I don’t want to say Twitter is not a successful platform. I mean, I love it. For many users, it still is what it was meant to be: a tool to share updates with friends, share some bookmark or stumbles, spread their posts, get to know people you would normally never meet (love that part).
However, you have to admit that there is an increasing number of automated tweets and tweets that look real but in fact, are ads. I know because I’ve been testing some platforms and will soon report on my findings (in a few words: it’s a jungle).
You are big when you attract spammers and cybercriminals
Maybe the success of Twitter should not be measured by the number of tweets but by the number of spammers, phishing attacks and fast moneymakers.
Security companies say that social networks such as Facebook and Twitter have become the main focus of so-called cybercriminals.
That’s what tells me that social networks are successful because cybercriminals are not stupid (just criminals) and go there where the money is.
So if my blog gets hacked, it might be a sign of success too. In fact, I didn’t have to look at Google Analytics to see it became known. I could tell from the increase of comment spam.
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