It seems like everyone is tweeting these days, either on Twitter or about Twitter. Twitter is the leading and undoubtedly the fastest growing social networking site on the web. Twitter allows members to post tweets, which are update messages of up to 140 characters. Followers, or people who are registered to a particular user’s profile, receive these updates in their email. Of course, this leaves some potential for abuse, and some followers have had to ask people in their network group to stop tweeting what they’re having for lunch.

Users can send or receive tweets via SMS (Short Message Service) from Twitter. There is no charge for the service, but some users are charged by their mobile phone providers if they receive messages through their smartphones. Higher phone bills have upset users who receive a lot of tweets. Some have discovered that they are too connected with their friends in cyberspace. Twitter has only been around since 2006, but it is the third most popular social networking site, after Facebook and My Space.

About crowding on Twitter?

One problem Twitter has encountered has been its retention rate. Although more people are joining it than any other social networking site, it only has a 40% retention rate for new customers. Other sites that are growing more slowly have higher retention rates. Twitter has had some issues with interruptions. Users encountering a blackout get the image of a failed whale, red birds holding a net trying to lift a whale. The message says “Too many tweets, please wait a moment and try again.” Even with Twitter being overcrowded, people from all over the world still flock to tweet! That is the power of Twitter and with the number of visits each day; you are bound to increase the visibility of your business by leaps and bounds just by extolling your merits there!

Twitter goes global!

There are over 41/2 million Twitter users and the site receives around 6 million unique or new visitors per month. About 55 million messages go through the site in an average month. Last year there was a long-term outage of IM capabilities that required major software changes. The site is very popular with entrepreneurs and young professionals who want to stay in touch throughout the day. Since messages can be sent via cell phone, you don’t need to be on a laptop or PC to stay in touch.

Social networking sites have been a phenomenon ever since My Space became the first international social networking site. Since then, Facebook has surpassed My Space in users. Given the growth of Twitter in just three years, it may become the most popular social networking site on the web. So make sure you stay connected!