Twitter: an observation

When I look at Twitter, I notice that of the people I follow, most “tweet” once or twice a day but a few “tweet” many times during the day. In fact, there are so many tweets I don’t look at them because there are so many. On the Web, I see the same person’s thumbnail running down the page – maybe 5 to 15 of them. So I end up scanning and looking for the thumbnail that stands out simply because it’s different. It stands alone.

Granted, I don’t use Twitter a lot, and I don’t offer myself as an example of the typical user. But I suspect my use does, to some extent, reflect how most react to many “tweets.” At a certain point, you ignore them because of the frequency.

My suggestion, though it’s almost contrary to the way Twitter gets used and it’s ostensible intention, is to think twice before tweeting. At least if you tweet frequently. Do you really need to tweet what you are about to tweet? Too many may mean your followers start ignoring you. (It would be interesting to see some data on this. Is this just a feeling I have that doesn’t reflect how people respond to frequency, or am I on the mark?)

(I can’t believe I’m using a word like tweet over and over with a straight face.)