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Me, me, me! 80% of Twitterers tweet mostly about themselves
Rutgers study shows vast majority of Twitter users are 'meformers,' not informers
By Sharon Gaudin
Computerworld - A vast majority of Twitter users are mainly interested in ... well, themselves.
A Rutgers University study released this week shows that 80% of Twitterers are largely tweeting about themselves - their activities, feelings, opinions and other personal information.
Only 20% of the 350 Twitter users surveyed are sharing non-personal information and they tend to have larger social networks and interact more with their followers.
"While 'meformers' typically post messages relating to themselves or their thoughts, informers post messages that are informational in nature," wrote Rutgers researchers Mor Naaman and Jeffrey Boase in the study. They also said that while the majority of Twitterers may seem narcissistic, Tweeting about themselves is their attempt to maintain relationships by informing people of their status.
"Although the meformers' self-focus might be characterized by some as self-indulgent, these messages may play an important role in helping users maintain relationships with strong and weak ties," Naaman and Boase wrote.
Rutgers study shows vast majority of Twitter users are 'meformers,' not informers
By Sharon Gaudin
Computerworld - A vast majority of Twitter users are mainly interested in ... well, themselves.
A Rutgers University study released this week shows that 80% of Twitterers are largely tweeting about themselves - their activities, feelings, opinions and other personal information.
Only 20% of the 350 Twitter users surveyed are sharing non-personal information and they tend to have larger social networks and interact more with their followers.
"While 'meformers' typically post messages relating to themselves or their thoughts, informers post messages that are informational in nature," wrote Rutgers researchers Mor Naaman and Jeffrey Boase in the study. They also said that while the majority of Twitterers may seem narcissistic, Tweeting about themselves is their attempt to maintain relationships by informing people of their status.
"Although the meformers' self-focus might be characterized by some as self-indulgent, these messages may play an important role in helping users maintain relationships with strong and weak ties," Naaman and Boase wrote.
Story Computerworld - http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/913...?taxonomyId=169
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Posted 05 October 2009 - 07:46 AM
