Update: OK, apparently Nielsen can’t measure Twitter users that use non-web applications.  Link here. However, I still think the Twitter shine is beginning to dim.

Original Post:

Nielsen released numbers indicating some of what many of us had believed for some time…that Twitter may be a passing fad.  Some interesting numbers (h/t: Marketing Charts):

• 60% of Twitter users quit after their first month
• Twitter’s 40% retention rate is actually up from the 30% reported last month before Oprah began tweeting and the “tweet-war” between CNN and Ashton Kutcher.  Expect that to normalize and drop again in the next bit.
• Facebook and Myspace have a better than 60% retention rate.

At this defection rate, Twitter may go the way of the dodo!

So, what does this mean for nearly every 2010 campaign in the nation as they are planning to include Twitter as a voter outreach tool?

The fact is that campaigns will likely still use Twitter to communicate with base supporters and volunteers.  You will find Twitter feeds on the homepage of nearly political website that will still allow candidates and campaign staff to micro-blog from the road.  Unfortunately, political campaigns were late to the game on this one and may be the last ones out of the pool.

Tags: 2010 Election, Campaign Media, Campaign Strategy, Polling Analysis, Twitter

This entry was posted on Friday, May 1st, 2009 at 7:12 am and is filed under News Commentary, polling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.