Solid stats on Twitter

Here are some helpful stats on Twitter:

• 72.5% of all users joining during the first five months of 2009.
• 85.3% of all Twitter users post less than one update/day
• 21% of users have never posted a Tweet 93.6% of users have less than 100 followers, while 92.4% follow less than 100 people.
• 5% of Twitter users account for 75% of all activity
• New York has the most Twitters users, followed by Los Angeles, Toronto, San Francisco and Boston; while Detroit was the fast-growing city over the first five months of 2009
• More than 50% of all updates are published using tools, mobile and Web-based, other than Twitter.com. TweetDeck is the most popular non-Twitter.com tool with 19.7% market share.
• There are more women on Twitter (53%) than men (47%)
• Of the people who identify themselves as marketers, 15% follow more than 2,000 people. This compares with 0.29% of overall Twitter users who follow more than 2,000 people.

Source: http://www.sysomos.com/insidetwitter/

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What Makes Social Network Sites so Popular

People are often astonished as to how social network sites can be so popular with hundreds of millions of users today. Quickly here are the top features that make social network sites so popular with its users and sets them apart from other categories of sites on the net.

Ease of Use – User friendliness and speed of user implementation are absolutely central to a successful social network site. The site has to be so easy to use that any kid or adult can get his / her page up in minutes.

Search – The ability to search and filter down key components of any page are imperative to a social network sites popularity. The more flexibility and search power a social network site gives its users, the better.  Given how big some of the social networking sites have become, search is key to the first point "ease of use". 

User Profiles - The ability to personalize a page or profile through customization features is evident in the top social network sites in the world. The ability to bundle links to other profiles in the network by clicking another user’s avatar is key too. 

Security – Being able to block out uninvited visitors through a privacy feature is a must for any social network site. Equally blocking out spammers is important too. 

Support – Having 24 hour support with a real human as well as quick turnaround on support is imperative. Resources like FAQ, Instructional videos and forums are helpful too. The more support you offer the more users will be happy with choosing you for their social networking needs.

Theme – A social network site has to have a unique and relevant theme that speaks to its users in order for the site to sell its users on investing their time in using the site. A good theme starts with a purpose that is central to the characteristics of the group using the site.  Myspace uses music to attract its users while LinkedIn focuses on careers and jobs.