Network effects: "Twitter quitters"

This article explores the implications of a Nielsen report which pegged the retention rate of social network Twitter at only 40%. Some claim that as Twitter increases in size, it will benefit from network effects that will increase its retention rate; "if all your friends have Twitter, aren't you more likely to stick with yours?" the argument goes. I'm not sure that this argument is a good one. It seems to me that early adopters are likely better-versed in technology and thus more easily ready to adopt a new one into their lives. Will this offset the obvious network effects as Twitter increases in size? Only time will tell.

I agree with this statement. If the number of users increases, the retention rate will increase because each person's coehision coefficient will increase. As more links in your social network use twitter, you are more likely to continue using twitter. Likewise, if not many people in your social network use twitter, you aren't as inclined to often post tweets. I have twitter that I haven't really used because not many of my friends use twitter; I don't feel the need to be sharing each action to only a few friends. I know that I would be more likely to post more often if more friends used it.

While i agree with the statement that twitter should increase it's retention rate as more people join it, one of twitter's creators is worried that it may just be a fad in this article
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/05/twitter-future-jack-dorsey.html

Right now twitter is very popular but it seems like the cost to switch to this new form of communication is too high and people may be joining specifically because the news say its the next big thing but not utilizing it.

Speaking of quitting vs. entering social networks, such as Twitter and also based on the dialogue about technology ruining genuine communication. Some might choose to quit or enter in situations like the one in this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5USlsLVQzk

Titled "Myspace Girl," by The Afters, this song follows the story of a boy falling in love with a girl based on seeing her at a drive-thru and searching for her picture on myspace. He creepily knows a lot about her and explains it with

"I saw your picture on Myspace
Maybe someday we can turn it into ourspace baby
I don't care how long it takes
I'm saving space in my top 8 for you."

While this social network provides a way for him to get to know the person he's falling for, he uses it as the ONLY way because he only has one face-to-face conversation with her. Now don't worry, he tackles the issue of his behavior scaring some people with the last verse:

"I know you're scared
I know our love is crazy
And I'm so crazy
You make me crazy
For you"

He loves her, which makes it all okay. His love is based on what he knows from her myspace page. This speaks volumes to what information should be put up on internet-based social networks and possible reasons people might leave online social networks, such as Myspace.

Brooke Stanislawski wrote:Speaking of quitting vs. entering social networks, such as Twitter and also based on the dialogue about technology ruining genuine communication. Some might choose to quit or enter in situations like the one in this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5USlsLVQzk

Titled "Myspace Girl," by The Afters, this song follows the story of a boy falling in love with a girl based on seeing her at a drive-thru and searching for her picture on myspace. He creepily knows a lot about her and explains it with

"I saw your picture on Myspace
Maybe someday we can turn it into ourspace baby
I don't care how long it takes
I'm saving space in my top 8 for you."

While this social network provides a way for him to get to know the person he's falling for, he uses it as the ONLY way because he only has one face-to-face conversation with her. Now don't worry, he tackles the issue of his behavior scaring some people with the last verse:

"I know you're scared
I know our love is crazy
And I'm so crazy
You make me crazy
For you"

He loves her, which makes it all okay. His love is based on what he knows from her myspace page. This speaks volumes to what information should be put up on internet-based social networks and possible reasons people might leave online social networks, such as Myspace.

in the vein of songs based on social networking sites, this is an old classic based on facebook stalking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FahBBnfHAQ

this song kinda just makes fun all the behaviors mentioned in the last post.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/the-twitter-guys-were-in-it-the-long-haul/

There's all this talk about being afraid the twitter craze is going to die, but according to this New York Times article from a few days back, Twitter founders see themselves still up and running 5 years from now. They anticipate changes to the site like adding a search bar and charging a fee for enhanced features that companies and businesses might be interested in.

This article doesn't really mention anything about retention rates, though I guess changing up features implies that they are trying to keep users and gain more.