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Today’s trending topics on Twitter included more than celebrity gossip, world news or some pointless meme. “Twitter Analysis” and “Tweets Are Pointless” were #1 & #2 respectively. Ryan Kelly of PearAnalytics completed a study of a 2,000-tweet sample over a period of two weeks to determine the breakdown of tweets. On the heels of Twitter’s recent acclaim as a viable news source, Kelly decided to dissect Twitter’s content.
The chart above reflects the study’s findings: 40.55% of the tweets were considered “Pointless Babble”, 37.55% considered “Conversational”, and only 8.70% had “Pass-Along Value”.
Perhaps more interesting were the following stats:
- 11:30a and Monday’s have the most frequent tweets with Pass-Along Value. If you want something re-tweeted, try it at 11:30 in the morning, or try it on a Monday. Maybe folks are feeling generous then.
- Spam seemed pretty consistent all day, everyday, but luckily was second-to-last on frequency.
- News seemed heavier at 2:00p and on Tuesdays. Note that we did not collect any tweets during the Michael Jackson news, in order not to skew the results.
- Conversational tweets were high between 2:00 and 4:00p throughout the study, and heaviest on Tuesdays. Most people are busy on Monday catching up with work, so perhaps it takes until Tuesday to get into the swing of Twittering again.
You can keep your babble. Robert Scoble interviewed Ryan Kelly this evening, which included an offer to perform the same study on @Scobleizer’s friends. The difference? Scoble recently dumped all of his tens of thousands of friends and then reinvested between 50-70 hours vetting his new list of friends to follow. The new list does include people he has met in person, but it’s probably safe to assume that Scoble’s list consists primarily of tweeters that initiate “conversation” and offer “pass-along value”.
Be sure to read the white paper on the PearAnalytics blog here and hear Robert Scoble’s exclusive interview with Ryan via FriendFeed.
Popularity: 19% [?]
Tweet from @natewhitehill…In case you didn’t know, Nate and his crew over at Unique Blog Designs designed helped design Derrich.com. His link was a video of Jon Stewart explaining Twitter.
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Tweet from @tonyhawk…the Tony Hawk Foundation seeks to foster lasting improvements in society, with an emphasis on supporting and empowering youth. Through special events, grants, and technical assistance, the Foundation supports recreational programs with a focus on the creation of public skateboard parks in low-income communities. The Foundation favors programs that clearly demonstrate that funds received will produce tangible, ongoing, positive results. To support the cause, the THF is auctioning off a pair of Jeeps. To bid, visit this website.
Tweet from @TechCrunch…in conjunction with my heads up about Amazon VOD meets Roku, Michael Arrington shared the news today that Roku now supports Amazon VOD.
Tweet from @blellow…Mandi Leman is a San Antonio entrepreneur that started Blellow — its mission is to encourage open collaboration and the sharing of knowledge. If you’re scratching your head and want to learn more, see how it works and sign up for Beta, which closes today. So get movin’!
Popularity: 24% [?]
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As if Facebook didn’t include enough “me” time, now I’ve done it. I joined Twitter. Actually, I joined over a year ago but just never caught the Twitter bug until now.
Based on my current list of ‘Following’ twitterers, I’m covering the daily allowance of information and entertainment. While I try not to come off as star-struck, I actively follow Tony Hawk, Lance Armstrong, the the Kutchers…and, of course, THE_REAL_SHAQ (‘actively’ meaning I try to contribute or reply to their tweets…as if they care). Shaq frequently shares pictures of his Shaqness via Twitter, and he’s been known to tweet clues of his whereabouts…sometimes rewarding finders with tickets to a game. Awesome.
Feel free to follow me if you find Derrich.com the least bit interesting…or even if you just want to pad your Twitter numbers.
BlackBerry + Twitter = TwitterBerry. For you BlackBerry addicts, you can Twitter with your phone as well. There are a number of apps available to tweet your twitters, but I’ve settled on TwitterBerry by Orangatame.
You can download this app via your phone by visiting http://orangatame.com/ota/twitterberry/.
Popularity: 18% [?]
I invite you to check out the new video feature on DERRICH.com. It’s located over on the sidebar, and it includes the last 5 videos shown on the site. And given the frequency with which I’ve been posting lately, this is your key to entertainment when visiting the blog. If you have a video you think I should include, don’t hesitate to send it to me!
Popularity: 66% [?]
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As you can see, DERRICH.com has undergone a facelift. It has been a long time coming, but I finally got around to it. And to do so, I summoned Nate Whitehill and the crew over at Unique Blog Designs. They are refreshingly flexible and accommodating.
The biggest hint of what my focus will be is the logo. It was designed by yours truly. I submitted my idea to Nate; he took it and ran. The final logo is a result of his mad PhotoShop skills. Embedded in the logo, you’ll see sports, pretty ladies, hot cars, the NASDAQ center in Times Square, and a BlackBerry. Embedded in each post…the usual DERRICH.com crude yet refined humor.
I hope you enjoy the new theme. There are still some minor changes to make, but I’d love to hear your feedback. Thank you, Nate and Unique Blog Designs!
Popularity: 12% [?]
The Google Bitch Slap lives! Last week while thumbing through Text-Link-Ads, I discovered that my “link popularity” (i.e. Google PageRank) had gone down from 5 to 3. I decided to check this against my SmartPageRank meter at the bottom of my page. Much to my chagrin, it read “2″. Hopped over to PayPerPost. Zero…which is where I currently sit.
Completely unaware of what was happening, I emailed Google to get to the bottom of this. That was a few days ago, and I haven’t received a response yet. But after digging around, I discovered that I’m not the only one.
My good friend, Michael Kwan, was recently bitch slapped by Google as well. Like Michael, I wonder why some of us were singled out, and others have retained their coveted PR.
It appears that Google has targeted blogs with paid links and sponsored posts. While Michael doesn’t fit this profile, most of the others effected do. Yaro Starak over at the Entrepreneur’s Journey was penlized by Google. And Yaro does sell text links on his PR6 blog. Because advertisers refer to PR to gauge pricing, this creates problems. Luckily (and so far I can only speak for myself), the PR of Derrich.com has been reinstated to a 5 on those services I do use until this is resolved.
Robert Clough at the Search Engine Guide decided it would be best to surrender to Google. A little hasty in my opinion. But probably the smart thing to do. This move by Google will definitely effect the smaller bloggers before it effects those with greater traffic (versus higher PR).
John Chow has quite the track record with Google…having been bullied before. While the bitch slap might effect Derrich.com, it probably won’t effect JohnChow.com. John has done an excellent job of monetizing his blog through readership and by selling his own sponsorships and advertising. John talks about this very topic and how some bloggers mentioned here surrender to Google. Since this isn’t his first rodeo so to speak, he has a more confident stance on this whole issue.
For me, surrendering to Google would cost way too much money. Sure, it will be nice to be ranked properly in their index but the traffic they would send wouldn’t come close to making up for the money lost. This is a business decision that each site will have to make on their own.
He’s right. Each blog will react differently after considering a number of variables. I’ll just sit back, and wait to hear from Google. Surely there’s a way for us bloggers to continue to monetize our blogs without being penalized by Google. I value the traffic I get from Google, but I don’t believe they are right to chastise me and the others. Derrich.com offers value to readers, and advertisements and paid reviews are pertinent to the rest of my content and to my blog’s purpose. C’mon, Google. Stop slapping me.
Popularity: 7% [?]
For awhile, blogging took a backseat to my family and my bar, RETOX. So what does that have to do with Google AdSense? Well, as I’ve started posting more frequently, I’ve also noticed a resurgence in traffic.
Although I wasn’t posting for days on end, I was still receiving some respectable clickage on my AdSense ads. With yesterday’s scramble to find Kyla Ebbert Playboy photos, I pulled in gobs of additional traffic. I’ve said it before, and I’m sure this won’t be the last time…but how on Google Earth does AdSense record so few clicks while MyBlogLog records so many more.
I’m aware of all the nuances of the two services. There are countless blog posts that explain why. There are even those that show you how to capatilize on one by using the stats of the other. Great. I still think I’m getting shorted. See for yourself.
Over 28,000 page views. 2 clicks. Are you kidding me? I suppose MBL pulled “139″ out of its @$$. Some may argue that content might play a role in what ads are showing. Fair enough. But most of my ads have been the same for weeks…including the time I was on my hiatus. None of it makes sense regardless of how many posts I read about codes and fraudulent clicks…etc. By the way, as I write this post, I’m sitting at about 10,000 page views with 1 click. If anyone else wants to join my “boohoo” party, the invite is open.
Popularity: 7% [?]
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