Oct 24 2008
Twitter is the New Fast-Growing Champ
Twitter fans unite! While social networking sites continue to grow at a rapid pace, Twitter is growing the fastest
Twitter’s audience has shot up 343 percent since September 2007, making it the fastest growing social network in the U.S., according to the latest report from Neilsen Online.
343% is impressive. The report indicates Twitter grew from 500,000 users to over 2.3 million in one year. Why? What is the attraction? Twitter is like text messaging, but you can share your messages with a group. Still not sure what Twitter is? Try the “In Plain English” series of videos for a very good explanation:
I’ve seen the benefit of Twitter from a personal perspective during Hurricane Ike. Twitter kept Houstonians connected and allowed us to share information in the midst of the storm and during the weeks of clean-up. Twitter is also playing a key role in the presidential election with the addition of a dedicated Election 08 round-up section. This tool allows you to view tweets on candidate-related information at a glance and helps to break news items with amazing speed.
Twitter also keeps you in touch with friends by allowing you to see what is going on in their lives. You only share what you want or what you are comfortable with and you can select whom you follow. You can even protect your updates and make the available by invitation only. However, that approach defeats the fun of the site, meeting new people.
If you don’t yet have a Twitter account, you should get one today and see what all the fuss is about. When you do, be sure to folllow the misunderestimation Twitter account and see what is new on this blog!
