Passive Twitter Users

51 percent of Twitter users have fewer than five followers. This could mean that many people who sign up for twitter give it a try and then give up. It could mean that these people are not very popular or that no one really cares what they have to say. Or perhaps the reason is that people are using Twitter passively.

These users aren’t tweeting to their followers to share their experiences. Instead they are merely watching twitter; using it as a live news ticker. They are using the tool to keep their finger on the pulse of the twittersphere. One does not need to have followers to benefit from Twitter’s constant stream of information.

 
Active and engaged tweeters use Tweetdeck to soak up info, relay messages, and distribute their own 140 character press releases. These people are considered ‘power users.’ But what about the passive twitter users – the 51 percent of twitter users with five or fewer followers? These people are still engaged but in a different way.

DownTweet appeals directly to these passive Twitter users. In fact, you don’t even need to have a Twitter account to use DownTweet. Just browse the list of feed subjects, drag and drop a feed into a widget and the real-time information starts streaming down. Users can watch four feeds at once and absorb all the real-time info they can handle. Each feed represents a different subject. For instance, select ‘Comedy’ and instantly tweets from Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Sarah Silverman and others begin to stream.

Twitter may have bought Tweetdeck to keep its ‘power users’. But DownTweet has not ignored the huge segment of passive Twitter users and is developing products to engage them in a different way. They may not be ‘power users’ but these users are certainly engaged nonetheless.