Nearly 50% Of Twitter Users Tweet Less Than 5 Times A Month
Does Twitter have an engagement problem?
A new study from Pew Research Center finds 49% of US adults on Twitter qualify as “lurkers.”
Pew Research Center defines lurkers as infrequent tweeters who have posted less than five tweets per month since they first opened their account.
Moreover, when lurkers do tweet, they’re more likely to reply to someone else’s tweets rather than post their own.
This data was analyzed as part of a companion study to one published by Pew Research Center in November, which found a vast majority of tweets are published by a minority of highly active users.
In contrast, Twitter’s most infrequent users represent a majority of its US adult user base.
This paints a picture of Twitter being a site full of content published by a small percentage of users, which gets consumed by a large percentage of users who aren’t adding to the conversation.
Let’s dig into the data to learn more about Twitter lurkers. Here are the highlights from the study.
Most Twitter Lurkers Are Ages 30 to 49
Twitter lurkers are primarily older US adults, the study finds.
Among infrequent tweeters, 59% of users are between 30 and 49, an age group consisting of elder Millennials and Gen X.
Gen Z and younger Millennials are more likely to be active on Twitter, as only 14% of users between 18 and 29 are considered lurkers.
In contrast, the 18 to 29 age group comprises a majority of Twitter’s most frequent tweeters.
See the chart below for a comparison of frequent tweeters and infrequent tweeters, broken down by age.
Lurkers Visit Twitter Less Frequently
Lurkers visit Twitter less frequently than more active tweeters – 21% say they visit the site every day, compared with 55% of more active tweeters.
Further, 38% of infrequent tweeters say they visit weekly or daily, while 41% say they visit only a few times a month or less.
Twitter Lurkers Are More Receptive To Other Points Of View
Lurkers are more interested in discovering other points of view rather than sharing their own.
The study notes:
“When asked whether they use the site to express their own opinions or to see what others are saying, 76% of lurkers say they use the platform primarily to see what others are saying. Only 6% use the platform primarily to express their own opinions.”
Lurkers Post More Replies Than Original Tweets
Replies makes up 51% of lurkers’ tweets, compared to 30% of more active tweeters.
Interestingly, retweets from lurkers make up a smaller percentage of posts compared to retweets from more active users.
Source: Nearly 50% Of Twitter Users Tweet Less Than 5 Times A Month
Google Business Profiles new emergency help attributes for Ukraine support
Google Business Profiles is rolling out a new business attribute under a new category called “emergency help” where you can say if your business or organization accepts donations, employs refugees, needs volunteers or offers free products or services.
What it looks like. Here is a screenshot from Krystal Taing on Twitter of the new attributes:
How to access it. You may be able to access these new attributes by logging into your Google Business Profile account, clicking on the “Info” tab and then scrolling down to edit your “Attributes.” All you need to do it click on the pencil icon to open up the available attributes to your business.
Don’t see it? If you do not see it, you are not alone. I personally do not see this in for my business listing and I suspect many of you don’t either. It might be a slow rollout of this attribute or it may be only available to certain types of businesses or organizations or to certain businesses or organizations in specific regions.
Hotel accommodations. This week, Google also released new attributes for hotel listings in Google Hotel search to define if they have free or discounted rooms available for those displaced from Ukraine. Here is a screenshot of that:
Source: Google Business Profiles new emergency help attributes for Ukraine support
WordPress Community Team Reconsiders Guidelines for In-Person Regional WordCamps
The pandemic has dramatically slashed the number of in-person WordPress events that volunteers are organizing and events have been slow to start up again. This has caused the WordPress Community Team to reconsider the guidelines for hosting regional WordCamps.
Historically, these guidelines have generated lengthy discussions, as many vocal opponents found them to be needlessly prohibitive. WordCamps began as local, city-based events, and organizers were not allowed to put together a regional WordCamp without jumping through a lot of extra requirements. These included having experienced event organizers that represent all WordPress communities in the region. The guidelines state:
“Before applying to organize a regional WordCamp, there should be at least 3 cities in your region (but very possibly more) with a local group that meets monthly, and that have hosted at least one WordCamp. The size of your region (in geography and population) will affect the expected number of established communities”.
In 2017, WordPress Community Support (WCS) shut down WordCamp Netherlands in favor of city-based WordCamps, sending the Dutch community into an uproar. The region, which is roughly the size of Maryland, had successfully held six editions of WordCamp Netherlands before WCS decided not to approve its application.
The camp was reinstated in 2018 after organizers agreed to meet additional requirements in the guidelines outlined above. This was not without a significant struggle, as the project moved to shed its “one-size-fits-all” approach to WordPress events. WordCamp Netherlands is once again on the schedule for 2022 as an in-person event.
In 2017, WordPress Community Manager Hugh Lashbrooke proposed the idea of micro-regional WordCamps, which makes exceptions to the meetup requirements for regional camps in situations where neighboring cities share meetup organization responsibilities. The idea received widespread support, as it makes sense in certain instances.
In 2020, the Community team relaxed a number of guidelines, including some for regional online WordCamps, in order to help keep communities connected during a difficult time.
“This resulted in a bunch of online regional WordCamps in Centroamerica, Greece, Finland, India, Italy, Japan, Spain, and Taiwan, among others,” Community Team Representative Hari Shanker said. “These events were quite successful in bringing together local communities even despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Now that WordPress events have taken a hard hit, the Community Team is considering loosening these restrictions for in-person regional events.
Shanker is asking for feedback on the discussion before April 4, 2022. A few contributors and organizers have already weighed in.
“Switzerland is such a small country that having separate WordCamps for Geneva, Lausanne, Bern and Zurich seems to be unnecessarily complicated,” Mark Howells-Mead said. “By re-establishing WordCamp Switzerland – which takes place in a different city each time and which was organized as a regional event until 2015 – we can better ensure that the visibility of the event and repetitive work can be more efficiently organized.”
Marcel Bootsman once again called on the Community Team to use common sense as a guide when evaluating whether a region is fit to host a WordCamp.
“We’ve had quite a few discussions about regional WordCamps in The Netherlands,” Bootsman said. “Let me just say I’m happy WCNL is back on the agenda, and I hope regional/local (city based) WordCamps are evaluated according to the country geographical size, and the feedback of the people organizing them.”
Source: WordPress Community Team Reconsiders Guidelines for In-Person Regional WordCamps
Microsoft asked 31,000 people what’s changed about work. One result was startling
Managers Can’t Manage
Last year, Redmond’s Work Trend Index offered an extraordinary picture. Bosses were having a rather good time, while those who worked for them were suffering: 37% said they were working too hard, while 41% insisted they were looking for another job.
The generous might suggest this was a very accurate presager of the Great Resignation.
But now another year has passed and Microsoft has again chatted to 31,000 people all over the world — and looked at trillions of productivity signals from its own software — to ask “What gives?” and “Who’s taken to this remote thing?”
How Do Those Roses Smell?
The most pungent conclusion from this study is a philosophical one: People have really, really stopped to consider the meaning of life.
Consider some more of the study’s conclusions.
More than half of hybrid employees are considering a shift to remote. Meanwhile, more than half of remote employees are considering a shift to hybrid. The latter, of course, are merely wondering whether to go hybrid so that they can get face time with their oh-so-distant leaders.
A substantial number — 38% — admit they’re not entirely clear about the point of an office anymore. Though many confess they’re missing the ability to build real human relationships at work.
The most moving, and perhaps even hopeful, parts of this study, however, show people have actually stopped, thought, and wondered about how work can affect their lives. In a not good way, you understand.
Here’s a nudge in a human direction: 53% of employees are now more likely to prioritize work/life balance than before the pandemic.
The Power Of Money? No, The Power Of Peace
And now for the most startling element of all. What has really made people quit?
There was a tie at the top. Was it between the need for more money and the need for more power? It was not.
Instead, it was between personal well-being or mental health and work/life balance. Which all, to me, sounds like one very big thing.
It’s people all around the world observing their own work lives and ululating “I just won’t take this anymore” in loud internal voices.
For once it’s not just about money or a promotion. That reason for quitting came in at number 7.
The true question, of course, is whether this turn toward the light can last.
How long will the employment environment suit those who prefer self-preservation to self-immolation? How long before a recession, or some other trigger toward greater financial need, infects the human soul?
And how long before the majority of companies conclude that maximizing profit — so that the leadership can make even more money — may not be the best way to run a company?
Source: Microsoft asked 31,000 people what’s changed about work. One result was startling
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