Subscribe for Email Updates
RSS Feed
Technorati
Delicious bookmark
Bloglines
Twitter Fatigue
I think I am suffering from Twitter fatigue. Although it is self-diagnosed, the symptoms are obvious –I feel a weariness, exhaustion and lethargy about Twitter. The frequency of my tweets has dropped like Sarah Palin’s popularity after she opened her mouth during her interview with Katie Couric. How could that be possible? I was a Twitter addict. Twitter was as much a part of my day as using my laptop. I probably tweeted on the same frequency as I spoke. What happened?
I have a few theories:
Theory #1: I Burned Out: I was like an alcoholic in a bar when it came to Twitter and the Presidential Election. I couldn’t help myself. Reading an article on CNN or the Huffington Post could trigger a binge of tweets that lasted for days. It was a blur. I started to lose friends who found it too painful to read to my rants. No matter who tried to intervene and delicately raise concern around the volume of my tweets, I didn’t listen and just chalked it up to them being one of the many Web 2.0 oblivious.
Theory #2: I’m Too Busy: The holidays are a crazy time of year for everyone. I often articulate this by saying “I barely have time to scratch my ass.” (Sorry for the visual.) I’m not 100% convinced this is the reason because this moment in time is like the Super Bowl of content for tweets. From holiday party antics to Governor Blagojevich’s dumb ass move, it’s like an all you can tweet buffet.
Theory #3: “It’s The Economy Stupid!”: I wonder if the down economy has subconsciously affected my tweets? Is it right to tweet when layoffs across the country have surged? Is it like eating a doughnut in the front row at a funeral service? Again, I’m not sure that’s true either. The whole proposed auto industry bailout is a Twitterpalooza waiting to happen.
Theory #4: The Novelty Has Worn Off: Is Twitter just another pop culture fad that is going to end up on VH1’s “I Love the 00s” show? Let’s face it, at one point in time we were all gaga over Strawberry Shortcake, Atari, Rubik’s Cube, Members Only, Bartles & Jaymes, Swatch and breakdancing. I’m sure many of you are thinking–in a Valley Girls tone– “uh, I was never into that!” I think Facebook photos from back in the day would prove you to be a big, fat liar.
It appears I am not alone in my Twitter fatigue. After unprecedented spikeadelic traffic, Twitter saw a slowdown in activity in November. comScore reports Twitter.com’s U.S. pageviews declined dramatically to 19.7 million in November down from 37.2 million in October. That’s a 47 percent drop. Holy twit Batman, something is wrong in the Twittersphere!
The root of my Twitter fatigue could be caused by any or all of the above theories or something else. However, I do find it interesting that I am not suffering Facebook fatigue. Why? What’s the difference.
Have you experienced any Twitter fatigue?
December 14th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Hey, Kel.
I never got hooked on Twitter — the tweets I received were mostly inane, and I don’t have time for that so I disconnected.
As for Facebook, it has more depth, more variety, and, it’s there whenever I want to check in. It doesn’t “bug” me.
December 14th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
abbie, i appreciate your insight. maybe facebook should use the tagline: it doesn’t bug you.” haha!
December 15th, 2008 at 2:04 am
Kel,
It might also be that people are starting to realize a bit of absurdity in the Twitterverse. Not the power of tweetng and the community that can be developed which is truly amazing. Heck, I feel a real friendship with you and we’ve never met face to face. But the follower hoarding going on is obscene.
My recent post “Your Followers Are NOT Following You” (Link below) is my take, biased as it may be, on the changes that are necessary to move forward. People can sense when they are being gamed and the crush of new tweeps who instantly have hundreds of followers and 10 tweets smell funny. Especially when one follows you out of nowhere and you have no idea why. Then you see stuff like this https://twitter.com/TrafficGen/status/1057615086 and you know something has to change.
The early adoption phase of Twitter has also been a bit of a mutual admiration society meeting with marketing folks and the tech set patting ourselves on the back. The party was rockin’ and I think I saw a few lamp shades on people’s heads. From “Woo! Two more followers and I hit 1,000!” to “This is my 5,000th tweet.” What? Did you mark your 1,000th contact in Outlook or pop a cork on your 5,000th email?
Twitter has proven to be incredibly powerful. If it weren’t I wouldn’t have invested so much money and time in developing Tweetworks to help take it to the next level. Now we move to the next phase where people get over the ego-metrics onto the conversation.
http://blog.tweetworks.com/2008/12/12/your-followers-are-not-following-you-so-maybe-its-time-to-change-what-you-focus-on/
December 15th, 2008 at 4:04 am
Hi Kel,
Funny how I should come across this in the middle of the night….as I check my twitter page. Ha! Yes, I am feeling it. Twitterland (as I call it) seems to have taken on a different energy from when I started tweeting a year ago. A lot of the people I follow, who I think are quite interesting and creative are almost using it like a chat room. There are @’s all over the place! I have found myself using it lately more for my own amusement, typing out a little creativity here and there. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still being charmed by it but frustrations have been knocking on my twitter door more than I’d like them to lately.
December 15th, 2008 at 7:57 am
I think I’m suffering from Twitter fatigue as well. I’m down to tweeting just a couple times a day and sometimes; I go whole days without tweeting. It’s not that I don’t find joy in tweeting anymore; it’s just that the shiny new toy-ness has worn off a bit. I still love that feeling of communicating my clever (at least I think they are) 140 character thoughts to the world even if no one is actually reading them.
December 15th, 2008 at 8:14 am
mike, your insight is fabulous! thanks so much for sharing. i feel a great connection with you as well and we have yet to meet in the physical world. (btw, that needs to change.)freud would have a blast analyzing what is really behind the self-esteem being drawn by tweeps based on numerical achievements and friend poaching in the twitterverse. i’m looking forward to the next phase of twitter and hope tweetworks helps bring order to the chaos.
December 15th, 2008 at 9:07 am
nyree, the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. twittering in the middle of the night certainly indicates one. lol! your comment about the chat room is an interesting one. today’s twitter doesn’t allow for groups to break off and tweet around a certain subject. you should check out tweetworks.com for that capability. brings more order to twitterland. thanks for the post!
December 15th, 2008 at 9:11 am
megan, did you drink bartles and jaymes back in the day? tee-hee. the shine certainly came off relatively quickly for you, but when you jumped in you made a big splash. i think your tweets are still clever. it will be interesting to see if you are just catching your breath or switching gears all together. only time will tell.
December 15th, 2008 at 9:31 am
As more and more things have been heaped on my plate, I’ve noticed that Twitter is one of the first things that drop from the table, hoping the dog will eat it. For me it is a two part problem. First, by being busy I don’t have time to send out good content or comment on other’s tweets that I enjoy. Second, after gaining more followers and following different people I find some of their tweets boring. I know that I do the same thing myself. Rather than quit following, I just tune out. And that can last for a day or two.
December 15th, 2008 at 11:19 am
I think the twitter model just needs to be ‘tweaked’. When I think of how my neices send 1000+ text messages a month, I want to ask why they don’t just twitter so multiple friends can get the message. I think it is a unique telecommunication that AT&T, Verizon and Sprint should keep their pulse on.
I am too new to be fatigued. I am still working on etiquette. It’s like talking to a bunch of strangers on a train. Not a typical situation. Once you meet everyone you want to narrow down your options. How do you do this politely?
December 15th, 2008 at 11:36 am
alex, love the “dog will eat it” comment. too funny. i wonder if you are busier now compared to when you tweeted more frequently. if the answer is no then i would imagine your second reason (boring tweets) is a bigger reason. if i were twitter, i would try to get my arms around what is causing the fatigue to better ensure future growth and activity.
December 15th, 2008 at 11:41 am
tara, thanks for sharing your perspective. i find the younger demographic has absolutely no interest in twitter. it amazes me because to your point, it is an offshoot of their existing addiction of text messaging. if i were twitter, i would aggressively go after that demographic. they have a herd mentality and the adoption inflection would happen quickly. regarding etiquette, i think it is the wild, wild west in web 2.0. anything goes.
December 17th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
My Twitter use waxes and wanes, some days 50 Tweets, other days two. To your point about Tweeting as often as you speak… I think there’s an interesting parallel in that. There are days when you’re feeling chatty and days when you’re not that interested in witty repartee. So goes Twitter usage.
I’ve also noticed that my Twitter usage tends to be event-related. During baseball season, for example, I usually watch the Red Sox with my iPhone in-hand, running play-by-play commentary with my pals on Twitter. The presidential debates and general election were also high-volume Twitter days for me. When there aren’t common & shared events, I tend to Tweet less.
One of the things that helps to keep my Twitter interest high is un-following people who are either a) boring or b) one-trick-ponies. There are a lot of people who Tweet incessantly about “personal branding” or assume the role of the PRNewsWire of 2.0 technologies. It just gets old after a while. I think sites like blip.fm offer interesting ways to leverage Twitter and expand your network. After all, Twitter is about making connections. Those who use it as another promotional vehicle or try and prove that they’re the smartest guy in the room don’t “get it.” Unfortunately, as Twitter becomes more popular, it will likely take more effort to separate the wheat from the chaff.
December 17th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
bostonwriter, you really have a great grip on your twitter activity and the driving forces behind it. this is the most comprehensive insight i have heard to date. i also appreciate your comment regarding unfollowing. most of the self-promotion that goes on is gross and negatively impacts my overall experience. shame on me for not taking similar action to better control my twitter experience. thanks for taking the time to post a comment. hope to hear from you again.
August 30th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Nice write up…usually I never reply to these thing but this time I will,Thanks for the great info.
August 30th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
thanks for swinging by sean!
January 31st, 2010 at 11:33 pm
Twitter are 100% the way to go