Comments on: It's Official: News Media Are Missing The Twitter Boat

By: z2z

z2z — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 10:31:33 +0000

I think the problem is bigger than they're just missing the Twitter boat (anyone can catch the boat at a later stage). But the problem is their current business model, it has to be changed altogether. If I'm not mistaken, the TIME will be charging for accessing its news section very soon. I wonder how many people will actually pay for that, when there are so many free alternatives to get "facts", and literally hundreds of thousands of places to get "opinions".

By: How much traffic do the Edmonton Journal and iNews880 get from Twitter? at MasterMaq's Blog

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:01:52 +0000

[...] on who you talk to, Twitter is either killing news media or saving it. A recent analysis by Hitwise found that less than 0.2% of people who use Twitter wind up going to news and media sites (thanks to [...]

By: Karl Pearson-Cater

Karl Pearson-Cater — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:41:07 +0000

I agree with @Nate, minus the snarkishness. ;) This is still a good post and worth talking about.

This might be data worth looking at:

Twitter client usage for all accounts tracked by @twitstat.
http://www.twitstat.com/twitterclientusers.html

1 web 18.37%
2 TweetDeck 10.06%
3 Tweetie 8.50%
…

By: Mathew Ingram

Mathew Ingram — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:34:22 +0000

Nate, maybe you didn't read to the end of the post, but I specifically mentioned that the data from Hitwise didn't include API access and therefore only limited conclusions could be drawn from it, and I also gave an estimate from Twitter about how much access comes from third-party apps and services.

By: Nate

Nate — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 21:04:53 +0000

Frankly, this site might bring up the potential that news sites need to do a better job getting stuff through on twitter, but the article glosses of probably the most important piece of information -- how twitter users access twitter.

Straight up the article says that APIs were not counted for this data. Therefore everything it infers from the "data" or lack there of is barely worth the pixels displaying the text.

I don't know anyone who has used twitter more than a day who does the majority of their twittering via the website. Everyone uses some form of third party API to get the information. So this really doesn't speak to how twitter users access anything at all.

Please next time cover all aspects of your data before you try to force some inference just so you have an article to write. If you really want to give credibility to your data try referencing how many users use APIs vs the website. At least then there is something to grab onto and think that these numbers might actually be worth something.

By: Tony Shimkin

Tony Shimkin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:49:31 +0000

I guess I'm in the 0.2%

By: Alec

Alec — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:45:08 +0000

I think it's safe to say that Twitter users are not particularly interested in the news. Studies have shown (in the U.K.) that the majority of Twitter users are on the site for less than 5 minutes per month.

By: It's Official: News Media Are Missing The Twitter Boat – GigaOM | Chi 90

It's Official: News Media Are Missing The Twitter Boat – GigaOM | Chi 90 — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:23:11 +0000

[...] more from the original source: It's Official: News Media Are Missing The Twitter Boat – GigaOM Related Ways to Take Action: Social Networking [...]

By: julia

julia — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:09:11 +0000

i have to admit, i do tend to ignore news tweets, mainly because they either don't interest me or i have already learned of the news from other resources

By: Shim Marom

Shim Marom — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:26:56 +0000

Your take: "Regardless of the numbers, however, I would argue that the low numbers of Twitter referrals has a lot more to do with the media’s failure to make efficient use of the social network to promote their content than it does any inherent lack of interest in the news on the part of Twitter users."

My take: Regardless of the numbers, however, I would argue that the low numbers of Twitter referrals has a lot more to do with the fact that most Twitter users young and are therefor more interested in entertainment than in current affairs. It's a generational thing and once they grow up they will move into other interests, with a greater focus on news and current affairs. Give it 10 years and you'll see the stats changing.

Cheers,

Shim Marom

By: kb

kb — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:53:27 +0000

An interesting story that corresponds with my own internal Twitter analysis. I would estimate that 90% of @N_E_I 's Tweets point to major media outlets. [Depending upon the content] we'll see an average of 20-25 clicks for each link.

The most-clicked on link to date? A YouTube clip of workers at the Hershey's factory making a full-scale replica of the Stanley Cup from chocolate: 225 clicks...and counting.

By: Karl Pearson-Cater

Karl Pearson-Cater — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:32:23 +0000

Good post. I do agree with @Leo that perhaps the stats are alittle "confuddled". We've seen Twitter jump to the number 3 referrer to MinnPost.com -- but we're just small potatoes in the 'News Media' arena. Regardless, we feel like tweeps are interested in news. It's all relative to traffic expectations, perhaps.

By: William Mougayar

William Mougayar — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:50:23 +0000

Matthew, You hit the nail on the head at the end of the post. The low number of referrals to main media has to do with their failure to have the right social engagement platforms (a la Disqus) with bi-directional links to the Twittersphere, in addition to most of their writers not participating in these conversations with their readers.
This has forced readers to go and discuss these in social networks, Facebook, Twitter et. al. The irony is that we’re discussing old media’s content in social media-friendly places.
Missing the boat is under-statement; I think it was a huge vessel or a even cruise ship.

By: doug

doug — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:34:48 +0000

I find this interesting as it seems to me that at one point, nearly every talking head in the news media was talking about their twitter account. It was to the point that I would click the mute button so not to hear it. So, I think, at least the TV side of things, they are trying, even if they may not be seeing results.

I think on the print side of things, the problem is that they have laid everyone off, so there is no one left to send the tweets. I think that most people view automated tweets that function as an RSS feed as noise. I think you will see a much better CTR if the twitter feed is a conversation of sorts with a real person in the newsroom.

By: tolleson

tolleson — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:55:43 +0000

And it is not for a lack of trying. It's almost comical to see news outlets promoting the crap out of Twitter. For what? This is bad news for "faddish" Twitter. If the news media bails on them I believe it will be game over as a high flier.

By: Doug Watt

Doug Watt — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:21:24 +0000

Hi Mathew, I sent you a note on Twitter but wanted to expand a little.

I tend not to link to mainstream news news sites from Twitter. Frankly, they don't need the traffic.

But there's also a content issue. Many Twitter users operate in niche communities writing about topic not covered by mainstream media. So you're more likely to see links to lesser-known blogs.