Comments on: Q&A: Twitter’s retention rates: will Twitter be pervasive or a niche app?

By: Stephen Collins

Stephen Collins — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:59:49 +0000

When I was asked about this, I compared it to real world retention rates at gyms. We join, but many don’t maintain.
The data really is junk, and it should never have been news. Retention rates for any human activity see drop off.

By: Alex Manchester

Alex Manchester — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:19:27 +0000

No, definitely not. And the massive coverage is both a help and a hindrance.
I was chatting to someone yesterday who felt convinced it was just a broadcasting, one-way push tool, because of the way a lot of media houses are using it. It is, of course, but that’s one particular use.
We talked more and discussed the conversational aspect, the participation aspect, the network effect. The diversity is amazing but bewildering if trying to understand it without committing.
As a side note, just thinking about this and Twitter being someone’s online/social interface – I wonder if a killer feature for Twitter?Twhirl/Tweetdeck would be an IM client similar to Facebook’s. I.e. click on a “friend (mutual follower) and open a chat with them. Invite others. That would be interesting.

By: Ross Dawson

Ross Dawson — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:10:10 +0000

Yes and I don’t have a great pat answer on how to get people to get it… it’s not an easy one.

By: Alex Manchester

Alex Manchester — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:03:56 +0000

Good post and interview, Ross. I feel that Twitter could become pervasive, but it certainly has a lot of hurdles to overcome. As you say, retention is important and it’s one of the bigger hurdles. The jump from “I don’t get it” to “I totally get it” requires quite a bit of effort in terms of participation.