Social media has become a global phenomenon within a very short period of time. Twitter, Facebook and other tools are said to offer possibilities which eluded traditional journalism, which is considered the unofficial ‘fourth power’ in democratic countries after all. Facebook can help to win presidential elections and Twitters promotes the underground struggle against theocratic rogue regimes. But in everyday life, these social networking tools are celebrating a great triumph, too – spreading banalities like ‘horrible weather today #annoying’ or important news like the fact that friend XYZ has found a stray sheep. Invitations to party events are sent out to the contacts in a personal mailing list and photos of the last holiday or day-trip excursion are shared. Whether all of this makes sense or not, is discussed fiercely and with frequency. But one fact is never denied: that it is fun, even though we cannot really explain why.

But is this true? Or is it the propaganda of fans of social media which makes us think that it is fun? Scientific studies on this topic are currently rare. But a survey by blogger Neicole Crepeau delivers interesting results. In her article for the online magazine ‘Social Media Today’ she says that the majority of active users enjoy Twitter. So that is nothing new so far. This group does not utter any doubts on the reasonableness or the advantages gained in professional respect offered by the micro blogging tool, either. People who have not used Twitter so far are more critical in this regard, but they do not disapprove of the tool in general. This is a first surprise since it only seems too natural for social media objectors to have a reserved attitude towards social media tools. But the truly astonishing result of the survey is yet to come: the third group of those polled – former Twitter users – state that they do not get anything out of using Twitter and neither enjoy an exchange of opinions limited to 140 signs nor profit from it work wise. On the contrary. Their devastating judgment: Twitter is boring! This attitude has been unheard of to far and is quite interesting simply for this fact. As soon as users have started posting and built a network, they have contracted the social media virus and the process of blogging and keeping followers and friends up to date becomes a perpetuum mobile, says Neicole Crepeau. Well, obviously this is not always the case.

But what are the reasons which make some users immune to the general hype and turn their backs on Twitter? The many colourful graphs and tables which elucidate the study’s results show that technical difficulties are an issue. Where do I find new followers? What are hash tags for? How do I contact other users? Every beginner is well acquainted with such initial problems. However, there is another reason for boredom which is a common problem for other media, too: it is the content. ‘People surely quit Twitter for many different reasons. It appears, though, that a significant number of users quit because they aren’t finding interesting tweets.’ Some weeks ago my colleague Christine Noe came to a similar conclusion in her article on social media and PR ‘Content is king’. Personally, I think that above mentioned banalities are actually part of what makes Twitter or Facebook authentic, genuine, and real. Our (professional) life does not revolve around serious and important things 24/7. However, it goes without saying that trivialities should not make up the majority of communicated content. ‘If Twitter wants to keep users, they need to do a better job of connecting first-time users not just with people they know, but with people who frequently tweet on topics that the user cares about’, summarizes the study’s author. So perhaps enthusiastic Twitter users may be well advised to convey and share some of their enthusiasm in their tweets more frequently…

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