Report: Most Twitter Tweets 'Pointless Babble'

As if one were needed, a study revealed that most tweets on Twitter are considered "pointless babble."

The study, conducted by Pear Analytics, explored a range of reasons users tweet on microblogging site Twitter.

However, despite Twitter's recent news focus, the study found that the majority of tweets fell into the usage category of "Pointless Babble." Other reasons included conversational, pass-along value, spam, news and self-promotion.

"Mostly many people still perceive Twitter as just mindless babble of people telling you what they are doing minute-by-minute; as if you care they are eating a sandwich at the moment," said Ryan Kelly, a study researcher, in a blog post.

Altogether, the study examined 2,000 English, U.S.-based tweets over a two-week time frame from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., capturing 200 tweets in half-hour increments. Ultimately, the tweets fell into one of six categories, researchers found.

The "pointless babble" category was seconded by "conversational" Twitter usage, which came in at 37.6 percent, followed by "pass-along value" in a distant third at 8.7 percent of total tweets. Researchers found, however, that the majority of "pass-along" tweets occurred at 11:30 in the morning and on Mondays.

There were a few surprises, however. Over the last year, Twitter has skyrocketed in popularity, recently touting its service as a major news source, while also used as a vehicle for communication by Iran protestors and Space Shuttle astronauts to convey important information quickly. However, contrary to projections, news comprised the smallest segment of total tweets at only 3.6 percent.

News tweets were found to be heaviest at 2 p.m. and on Tuesdays, as were conversational tweets, which also experienced a spike between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

"Most people are busy on Monday, catching up with work, so perhaps it takes until Tuesday to get into the swing of Twittering again," Kelly said.

In addition, researchers said they originally hypothesized that Twitter would be primarily used for self-promotional purposes -- tweets that are trying to push a product, service or have a "Twitter only" offer. However, self-promotion comprised about 5.85 percent of the total tweets.

Spam tweets were consistent throughout the day, but came in second to last in frequency. News came in last.

"With the new face of Twitter, it will be interesting to see if they take a heavier role in news, or continue to be a source for people to share their current activities that have little to do with everyone else," said Pear Analytics researchers in a blog post. "We will be conducting this same study every quarter to identify other trends in usage."

Oh boy.

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