One-Tweet Wonders

theodp writes "TIME has seen-the-future-and-it-is-Twitter. Slate, on the other hand, is more fascinated with the phenomenon of orphaned tweets, the messages left by people who sign up for Twitter, post once, then never return (not unlike one-blog-post wonders). While some orphan tweets betray skepticism about microblogging ('I don't get it... what's the point of this thing?'), other one-and-done Twitterers demonstrate keen enthusiasm before disappearing ('I'm here!'), and some tweets hint that tragedy has cut a promising Twittering-life short ('it hurts to breathe. should I go to the hospital?'). Slate notes that studies of Twitter accounts by Harvard and Nielsen suggest the service has been better at signing up users than keeping them, including the one-tweet wonders."

Comments

Re:If you don't read TFA

[cptdondo]

Makes you wonder how many of these are some sort of throwaway code.

getting ready for cannes == set the date
Printing latest briefing == getting the drugs
Folding shirts == meet at designated spot

and so on.... Seems that twitter would be a great way to use one-time pads and code phrases.....

Name reservation?

[KlaymenDK]

One possible reason for people to have unused accounts is simple to reserve the name. That is to say, to ensure that nobody can go around tweeting "in their name".

Re:Social Stuff

[$1uck]

And here you are posting in community forum. How very social of you.

I don't understand the hate...

[$1uck]

Really its a tool. Something like a cross between IM, a mailing list and a personal RSS feed. It has its own niche. If its not useful to you, don't use it. I can only presume all the hate comes from its sudden popularity and the rather stupid name (both of which bring to mind obnoxious teenage fads). Oh well I would think people would be smarter than just hating on a tool b/c of two superficial reasons.

Re:Either you are, or you aren't

[albedoa]

Some people need a forum to sound off to the world. Others, like me, are indifferent.

He said, on a forum.