40 percent of Twitter messages 'pointless babble': study

Breitbart ^ | 08/17/2009

[Responsibility2nd]

Forty percent of the messages on Twitter are "pointless babble" along the lines of "I am eating a sandwich now," according to a study conducted by a US market research firm.

Pear Analytics, based in San Antonio, Texas, said that it randomly sampled 2,000 messages from the public stream of Twitter and separated them into six categories.

The categories were: news, spam, self-promotion, pointless babble, conversational and pass-along value.

Pear said "pointless babble" accounted for 811 "tweets" or 40.55 percent of the total number of messages sampled.

Conversational messages -- defined by Pear as tweets that go back and forth between users or try to engage followers in conversation -- accounted for 751 messages or 37.55 percent.

Pear said tweets with "pass-along value" -- messages that are being "re-tweeted" or passed on by users to their followers -- accounted for 174 messages or 8.70 percent.

Self-promotion by companies was next with 117 tweets or 5.85 percent, followed by spam with 75 tweets or 3.75 percent.

[Responsibility2nd]

Ha Ha!

That sorta thing NEVER happens here in FReeperville.

[astounded]

I’m shocked...lol

[Retired Greyhound]

40% seems low.

I thought it to be above 90%.

[irishjuggler]

I’m shocked, too. I’d have guessed at least 98 percent.

[angkor]

I am eating a ham sandwich.

[angkor]

My toes itches.

[GonzoGOP]

This is amazing. Only 40%. I would have thought that the number would have been up around 60% at least.

Oh and I'm eating a slice of pizza.

[HIDEK6]

Does no one appreciate the wastefulness of having paid for a study to reach this conclusion?

[subterfuge]

I’m reading about you eating ham sandwich. Done yet?

[rellimpank]

—prpbably matches the content of cell phone conversations—

[CaliforniaCon]

Iwas gonna vote 80% as ‘pointless babble.’ When I want to feel connected, I come to FR!

[brktxpyr]

I’m drinking a Natural Light.
Would go pretty good with that ham sandwich.

[muawiyah]

I am posting on this board.

[netmilsmom]

We have some ham in the freezer.

[mbarker12474]

I’m feeling hungry now.

[rarestia]

[BradyLS]

OMGz!

[I see my hands]

To: Aardvark111; ACK ACK; Al Koa; Angel of Beth; another_bot_for_W; AppleEars; axe2grin...

I see my hands' True Life Trivia
Low Volume Ping List
On? Off? Private Reply Please

Per popular demand I've registered at Cabelas but, again, really not necessary.
Thanks for the cool notes after my appearance on Leno. Remind me at I-CON '09 to tell you how he christens each new car in his collection. Hint: Let him change his own spark plugs.

I am currently typing.

[Pessimist]

Yup.

I always wonder what people can possibly be talking about on the phone constantly.

[astounded]

I just sneezed.

[abb]

As opposed to the near 100% “need-to-know” content that is published daily in newspapers across the nation? Or aired on CBSNBCABCCNN?

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

Hey everyone, I’m eating a sandwich right now.

[FreedomGuru]

ONLY 40%? Heck 60% of cell phone calls are pointless babble.

[bigbob]

and the other 60% is pointed babble...

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Drinking a Coke at the office. Know it’s no good for me.

[angkor]

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposi

[Sorry Abe, you’ve reached your 140 character limit]

[Doc Savage]

Gee, do you think???????????????? Golly, what a surprise!

[wbill]

40 percent of Twitter messages 'pointless babble': study

That low?

OMG! UR kiding!

[angkor]

>>> I just sneezed. <<<<

Gesundheit.

[browardchad]

Does no one appreciate the wastefulness of having paid for a study to reach this conclusion?

It depends on who/what wasted money on the study.

I thought "pointless babble" was the whole raison d'etre of Twitter, so a study confirming that doesn't make anyone any smarter, it would seem.

[Berlin_Freeper]

I am playing Ambush!

[astounded]

Thank you...I just farted...

[Chuzzlewit]

Bullwinkle is.... a ....dope...

[I Buried My Guns]

I find about 80% of all humans under the age of 25 to be pointless. Twitter is but one example.

"Hey everyone, standing in line at the DMV, entertaining others by making fart noises with my armpit. Oh yeah, I'm eating a ham sandwich right now also".

[humblegunner]

I’d give it more like 77% babble considering the source.

Twitter is no legitimate source of information.

[Responsibility2nd]

[earlJam]

lol

I bet that 50 percent of my posts here are the same thing!

[skr]

Bless you.

I think I sneezed yesterday.

[derllak]

What shoes are you wearing today? Boots or spikes?

[astounded]

Ditto to you...

[Dr.Zoidberg]

I am probably missing something without twitting or twiddling or what ever they call it, but I was under the impression that was the whole purpose behind twitter.

To babble pointlessly on a web page that can be read by ones friends/family.

[wbill]

I find about 80% of all humans under the age of 25 to be pointless.

Yep, I was pretty much that way when I was under 25.

Of course, I was also certain that the entire universe revolved around my every whim, as well. :-)

I can see why Twitter is so popular amongst the college crowd. After all (thinking as a 20something) "Who Wouldn't be enthralled by my every thought and action?"

I also think that there's a circle of hell reserved for the vacuous twits who walk around with a cellphone stuck in their ear, describing what they're doing in a loud voice.

[spikeytx86]

And 81% of all research is a pointless waste of cash.

[bgill]

I am thinking of ham and sneezes.

[Malsua]

Whatever the actual percentage of tweets that are meaningless babble, you can bet it just about as meaningful as the gum flapping that goes on while people are driving while on the cell phone.

[leilani]

What's with all the ham sandwiches today?

Goodness, is there anybody left around here who eats cheese at all anymore?

I'll be in the shower, so if anybody does eat a cheese sandwich while I'm gone can somebody update me when I come back?

[444Flyer]

"Twitter", did someone say "Twitter"?

[Slings and Arrows]

I like cheese.

[Right Wing Assault]

Duh! Just like the birdies tweeting in the trees. Little did we know that most of their tweeting is meaningless, repetetive birdie babble! Usually they are saying, “Hey, everyone! Look at me and listen to me! Aren’t I great? C’mon, everyone, tell me that I and everything I do is important and that you love me!”

[Spunky]

Not going to tell you what I am doing.