Trending topics on Twitter – How many tweets to reach the top?

According to Twitter statistics, the average number of tweets daily is a little less than 2 million, updated by around 630,000 unique Twitter users.

The idea of having a real time search is possible through the Twitter search engine, found at http://search.twitter.com. When a user search for a given topic, the results page shows what is been tweeted about that issue in real time.

The “Trending Topics” shown in the home page reflects the 10 most tweeted topics in real time. They are refreshed every 5 to 11 minutes.

But, the million dollar question is: How many tweets are needed to trend on Twitter?

It actually varies according to the time of the day. As mentioned above, a trending topic is refreshed periodically. So, to figure at the top ten, the topic must be tweeted in a short period of time. It is necessary around 1200 tweets from 12am to 6am PDT to reach the top 10. From 6am to 12pm PDT, 1700 tweets. From 12pm to 6pm PDT, 1500 tweets. And 1900 tweets from 6pm to midnight PDT.

The number of unique users tweeting also plays an important role in the equation, it ranges from 600 to 900 users.

Lately we have seen some movements to make a topic trend, as I mentioned in this blog on July 14th, when Brazilians mobilized to have the Jonas Brothers back for a new tour, posting hundreds of updates with the tag #BrazilwantsJB. Check it at http://pl0.sl.pt.

As a marketer, update an interesting message and hope that some 900 of your followers retweet it at least twice or, better yet, 1800 followers retweet it once. The reward: 5 to 10 minutes trending on Twitter, viewed by millions of users. Good luck!

Twitter’s first step to truly monetize its platform

On Thursday, July 23rd, Twitter made available the Twitter 101 for Business – A Special Guide, a step-by-step guide on how to effectively use the platform and case studies of successful strategies some well-known companies are using on Twitter.

Right on the top of the Special Guide you will find the following statement: “Every day, millions of people use Twitter to create, discover and share ideas with others. Now, people are turning to Twitter as an effective way to reach out to businesses, too. From local stores to big brands, and from brick-and-mortar to internet-based or service sector, people are finding great value in the connections they make with businesses on Twitter.”

“If you intrinsically see some value in Twitter, you will want to pay more to get more”, said Anamitra Banerji, manager of commercial products at Twitter.

You will notice the link for the Special Guide at the bottom of your Twitter page.

Lets see what comes next.

Barnes & Noble opened it’s e-book store

That’s right: Barnes & Noble has launched its electronic bookstore with more than 700,000 titles. The company is landing in a marketing fully dominated by Amazon and its Kindle with 300,000 titles available.

The e-books cost $9.99 and are compatible with iPhone, iTouch, BlackBerry smartphones, and other devices. Barnes & Noble offer free download of the eReader for these devices and for PC and Mac.

The company estimates to make more than 1 million titles available by the end of this year. In addition, Barnes & Noble announced that it will be the exclusive e-book provider on the forthcoming Plastic Logic eReader device, an ultra thin 8.5 x 11 inch wireless eReader, which is expected in early 2010.

The B&N Bookstore ap for iPhone and iTouch is the #1 downloaded book app in Apple’s App Store. Its features include enabling customer to place orders for books, movies and CDs; it also lets users snap a photo of book’s front cover and get product detail, reviews and customer ratings.

Facebook doesn’t comply with Canadian Privacy Laws

In a PR from the Canadian Privacy Commissioner, Jennifer Stoddart, Facebook is to fix privacy gaps in the site. According to the PR, the investigation started after a complaint from the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic.

One example of the violations is that you cannot delete an account. You can only deactivate it, what means that your information will always be at Facebook’s servers. The way that Facebook shares users information with third-party developers creating applications is also a big concern.

Facebook has agreed to adopt many of the recommendations steming form the Privacy Commissioner’s investigations. But, in some cases, Facebook is proposing alternative measures and in others it hasn’t agreed yet.

There will be a review after 30 days to make sure that Facebook is complying with the Privacy Laws. The commissioner has the power to go to the Federal Court to seek to have her recommendations enforced.

Lets see how this issue will end.

To read with more details, go to http://n.bd.sl.pt .

Some successful brands on Twitter

There are some companies branding on Twitter in an amazing way. They’re not limited on telling the followers about new products or services. Here are some good examples that are worthy to follow:

• JetBlue (890,000 followers) is using its Twitter account mainly for customer service.
• Dell has several Twitter accounts, but the most popular is DellOutlet (860,000 followers) where the company attract tweeple to their outle webpage.
• Starbucks takes suggestions from followers and participate in discussions with them at My Starbucks Idea (6,500 followers).
• The Home Depot (10,300 followers) and HR Blocks are also using for customer service, answering followers’ questions and following up with them.

These are just some of the companies that already moved from the static informative web sites to the interactive world of social media. Social networking sites are a great opportunity to promote their business at low cost. The secret: do it right.

Brazilian campaign reaching the top of Twitter trends

A campaign launched in Brazil in an attempt to reach the top of Twitter’s Trending Topics is almost accomplishing its goal. As of 1am on Tuesday, they reached the second place in the list featured at the microblogging site.

The users are updating messages with “#BrazilwantsJB”, which means the will of the Brazilians to have the Jonas Brothers back in the Country for new concerts. It’s amazing how passion can do with people. In a matter of hours the group’s fans are sending their message to the world.

Lets wait for Jonas Brothers’ response to this manifestation of love from their fans.

Ning – Online Social Networking made easy

Ning was launched in February 2007. It lets members build their own social networking platform. And better yet: it’s free.

Ning has over 1 million social networkis created and more than 27 million registered members. The members can create a unique profile and join all kind of networks within the platform as well as create a completely new network, according to their interests and passions. The networks can be open or by invitation.

Usually people who join this communities are really interested on the especific topics and tend to be less noisy than in Facebook and Twitter, what makes the conversation more meaningful. The easy personalization of the members page plays an important role in keeping people more confortable with the platform.

The networks can be very interactive, featuring chat, events, media sharing, forums, etc. I came to Ning when I decided to create a social networking site for the youth group in my Church. My teenager simply loved the concept: a private networking site where he can share his thoughts with his brothers and sisters in Christ.

Sports site sues Facebook for click fraud

Facebook has been sued by RootZoo for click fraud.The sports site’s lawsuit is based on discrepancies between its own analytics program and the number of clicks claimed by Facebook. Sometimes the difference reached more than 100%. On June 2, 2008, Facebook charged 804 clicks on RootZoo’s ads, while the site analytics registered only 300 clicks generated by Facebook.

According to RootZoo, Facebook refused to show its log files or refund the money. Facebook said that the lawsuit is unnecessary and baseless.

Since the beginning of the year, unhappy customers are complaining about click fraud. Knowing that the most part of Facebook’s revenue comes from cost-per-click and that a revenue target increased from $280 million in 2008 to $550 million in 2009, it is hard to believe that these problems are a coincidence.

NY Times to start charging for online news

The New York Times is planing to start charging for its online news within weeks. The annual fees will be $30 for the print version subscribers and $60 for nonsubscribers.

This decision came after a survey on how much readers would pay for online news. The fall on print advertising and the increasing interest in online news are making the industry create alternative sources of revenues.

Some other newspapers websites are considering similar alternatives.

Please comment: Do you think printed newspapers will disappear soon? I think it will take a while, but it is a trend.

Michael Jackson is Facebook’s most popular person

Michael Jackson’s Facebook page has grown from 80,000 fans to over 7 million in a matter of days. He has continued to gain about 20 fans per second. President Obama was the most popular in Facebook, with little over 6 million fans.

Among the 10 Twitter trending topics right now, 6 are related to Michael Jackson. At YouTube, videos related to MJ are the most viewed. There have been over 2.5 million downloads of MJ’s songs since his death. At iTunes he figures with the top 2 albuns and 3 of the top 10 singles.

It confirms with no doubts that he’s the King of Pop, with millions of fans around the globe.