Twitter is passing into mainstream. Latest figures from Hitwise, the online intelligence service, show a 974 per cent increase in traffic, jolting Twitter from the 2,953rd most popular site among UK users to the 291st most visited by mid-January.
Richard Goad, director of research for Hitwise, said in a recent Independent article: “Twitter was one of the fastest-growing websites in the UK last year, and shows no signs of slowing down,” said Robin Goad, director of research for Hitwise. “If anything, the service is even more popular than our numbers imply, as we are only measuring traffic to the main Twitter website. “If the people accessing their Twitter accounts via mobile phones and third party applications [such as Twitteriffic, Twitterfeed, and Tweetdeck] were included, the numbers could be even higher. The average amount of time that people spend on Twitter.com has more than trebled from less than 10 minutes a year ago to half an hour now.”
Twitter does not provide official figures for its usage, but industry analysts believe that more than 2.25 million “tweets” are posted every day, on top of more than 1.1 billion such messages since the service was launched in early 2007.
As a self-confessed Twitter addict (I tweetblogflick therefore I am), I have found the following six things to be the most useful of the seemingly hundreds of applications and sites that have shot up on the Twitter bandwagon. They enrich my Twitter experience on a regular basis.
Twittermail
At first sight, Twittermail doesn’t look too exciting, but don’t be deceived. You sign up and are given a Twittermail address. Everything you post to that Twittermail address is automatically posted to Twitter. There is nothing particularly remarkable or especially useful in that. If you can compose an email directly on a computer, why not just type directly into Twitter? Again, if you can type into a mobile phone, why not type directly into a Twitter phone application?
However, the real (and little understood) benefit of Twittermail is that you can post a book. Tweets are limited to 140 characters, but Twittermail enables you to get round that limitation. Occasionally you want to say something longer than 140 characters. Just type your long post, send it to your Twittermail address, and the start of the post will appear with a link to the rest so that your readers can find the whole epistle.
TwitterFone
TwitterFone is an impressive service that enables you to send tweets by voice from your mobile phone. Once you have signed up for an account, simply load the TwitterFone number in your mobile address book. When you want to tweet, dial the number and record. Seconds later your tweet appears on Twitter. Your message has been transcribed (usually with impressive accuracy for voice recognition) and a link posted to a site where the ‘reader’ can hear your recording. It is also possible to listen to your followers’ tweets being read, and to send voice replies or even voice direct messages. I can see that there are occasions when you are too tired to type, or when the only available keyboard may be small and on the move, and so voice tweeting is attractive.
Monitter
Monitter is a fascinating site that enables you to get some sort of personalised window into the millions of Tweets that are being posted. You can select to view tweets within a particular locality, or view tweets on a particular topic. It’s a great site for monitoring breaking news events as tweets are posted by the people involved.
Tweetie
This is an application for the iPhone or iPod that enables you to read tweets on the move and to post from those devices. There are many applications available for mobile phones that make tweeting easier, and although I have tried many, I like Tweetie the best. I particularly like the ability to change text size (I don’t always have my reading glasses with me), the ability to login to multiple accounts (I have personal and business accounts), the ability to search tweets, and the ability to easily and clearly send direct messages.
Tweetstats
Over the years I’ve developed a nerdish interest in numbers, and this site just satisfies a deep need that I have. Enough said.
Twe2
When it first started you could get free Twitter replies by SMS, then it stopped in Europe. Twe2 has taken up the mantle so you can now get @replies and direct message tweets delivered to your mobile phone when you are not logged in to Twitter. The service is efficient and free (though each tweet is paid for by an accompanying ad at the bottom of each message).
The above six are my favourites at the moment. What are yours?
You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/athinkingman
You are a Twitter addict indeed.
I take a more simplistic (and boring) approach. I only use Twitter via the web at the moment and just log directly onto the Twitter site, write my little Tweet and that’s it. It keeps me happy enough.
I suspect that when I get my iPhone I will Tweet from that when I do not have my laptop with me.
I can’t actually see the point to the other things. But I suppose that’s the beauty of Twitter really - there doesn’t have to be a point, does there? The whole thing is wonderfully fun and pointless.
I do look at the stats occasionally when others do - you know, the “mine is bigger than yours” type of thing. I don’t find my stats terribly interesting in a standalone way.
I’m glad though that there are people around like you who are prepared to tinker and investigate so the rest of us do not have to do so, cos just occasionally you turn up something that is useful and then I am eternally thankful.
The Monitter thing sounds intriguing so I will take a look at that.
Happy Tweeting! And don’t forget who got you into it in the first place!!!!
Reluctant Blogger
And no, how could I ever forget who introduced me to Twitter in the first place. If you had only known then what you know now, would you have been so encouraging?
I am glad that you are contented with your Twitter existence and have it under control. It’s good that you can make it bend around your needs and lifestyle. I am, however, willing to bet that things might change slightly once you get your iPhone.
You guys have talked about Twitter for a while, and I actually went to RB’s place and read a conversation between the two of you. I thought it was interesting, but it looked also like any other chatting program, except that the whole world could read your guy’s conversation, and I thought that was scary.
Are you comfortable with the fact that perfect strangers can read your chats?
On another issue, do you mean that I, from Canada, could drop you a voice mail in Twitter? Or does it have geographic limitations?
The day I read the conversation between you two, I felt tempted to join. But I am not sure I’m cool enough for that stuff. You guys seem to be pro’s at it, and you seem to know each other quite well. Maybe that helps.
Lorena
In one sense Twitter is just another chat room that anyone can read. If you don’t want to be embarrassed, don’t publish anything embarrassing. But it is so much more. It is also a private chatroom - you can post private tweets (direct messages). You can also control who follows you and reads your tweets. In the public sphere is also allows you to learn new information quickly by following people and organisations that tweet about things you want to know. Think of a good coffee shop in a university where there are private and public chats going on about interesting and banal things.
In answer to your question about voicemail, the answer is yes. Get a free twitter account, then get a free twitterfone account, then dial a local Canada number +16044841830 and leave your message. If you tell us who you are before you do so we can follow your tweets and will see and hear your voicemail. Go on! You know you want to
It may happen sometimes in the next two weeks. Who knows? I’d love to hear your guy’s sofisticated Nortfolk accent. Will I understand? Hmmmm.
Sorrry for mispelling Norfolk.
Ah! It seems like T will post a text message via voice recognition… I doubt it that it will do well with my accent. Oh well. I may try it anyway.
I love twitter and have been a user since 2006 and I have met and made friends through twitter too. I have also stopped following many people when they clog it up by chatting as i dont see twitter as a chat programe. you have msn skype and google chat for that. twitter is really just for leaving quick simple updates.