7 Types of Twitter Users

Since crossing over to the mainstream, Twitter has graduated from being the online plaything of Internet geeks and new media mavens to something that the average person can actually enjoy. You probably have a Twitter account, and whether you use a desktop client, the web interface or your mobile phone, you’re bound to be any of these seven types of Twitter users.

1. The self-obsessed lifestreamer. Twitter was designed, after all, as a lifestreaming and microblogging service. So it makes sense that the first thing you want to do on Twitter is tell everyone about what you ate for breakfast, or that you’re doing the laundry, or perhaps drinking Cherry Coke. Self obsessed lifestreamers have the itch to tweet about every detail in their lives.

2. The reader. Research says that 10% of all Twitter users have contributed 90% of the content on the site. This leaves the rest of the 90% as either inactive or just mostly reading. After getting over your itch to tweet about every little thing you do, you get tired of tweeting and fall back to only reading. Or at the very least, you’re probably using Twitter to follow news from your friends or from mainstream news sources (like @CNNbrk, perhaps). Readers are also sometimes called “lurkers,” because they’re there but don’t show their presence.

3. The chatterbox. If you’ve encountered friends always exchanging replies, then these are probably the chatting type. Yes, Twitter is primarily designed as a microblogging service. But you can’t deny the fact that a lot of people are using Twitter as a public chatroom. And there’s nothing wrong with this. Twitter, after all, is a platform and people have been finding new and exciting ways to build on it. Public chatting and private messaging are just a few user-inspired functionalities that Twitter’s creators have incorporated as a feature. Chatting is one great way of interacting, after all, and it adds value to Twitter.

4. The connector. Connectors are people who are aware of the value of their friends list. These are people who are willing to offer a helping hand, or know just the resources to take advantage of. Even if they cannot do everything, connectors probably know someone who’s an expert on just the thing you need. It’s said that on a social network, how many friends you’re connected with is not as important as who you are connected with. A connector knows important and influential people. And even if he may not be influential himself, he is able to leverage these connections to his advantage.

5. The marketer. Viral marketers have discovered the power of Twitter in spreading the word on just about anything. There’s nothing wrong with this, and several high profile users like Michael Dell are successfully generating buzz and sales leads through Twitter. Marketers don’t necessarily have to post in-your-face advertisements. The fact that they’re building up authority through Twitter contacts, and genuinely interacting with everyone should be a good indication of what kind of marketers these folks are.

However, Twitter is also ripe for the picking for marketers of all kinds, some bordering on spam. Some marketers would actively follow people discussing stuff related to their products, and even send replies to relevant posts. And then when you follow them, you realize most of their posts link to affiliate marketing sites. Suddenly, you get a deluge of seemingly spammy tweets, and you find the urge to unfollow. Hey, that’s Twitter marketing for you!

6. The celebrity. Since Twitter started to become recognized in the mainstream, celebrities of all kinds have flocked to Twitter. People like Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk), Oprah Winfrey (@oprah) and other celebs have opened Twitter accounts as a means of reaching out to their fans. Or at the very least, they probably signed up to make sure no cybersquatters use their names to their advantage. But basically, being a celebrity means that your Twitter follower list will keep on growing even if you don’t actively market it. Fans will flock to your account, and will actively follow each and every step you make. What’s great about celebrities Twittering is that reading about their daily lives make them more human to the rest of us mortals.

7. The starstruck. Admittedly, some of us have been starstruck to some extent at one point in our lives. You probably have one or two celebrities in your followed list, don’t you? But some are simply extreme. As a result of celebrities getting on the Twitter bandwagon, there are also users who sign up to Twitter just to follow their favorite celebrities. Some are like cyberstalkers. But some are just probably genuinely interested in reading how a day in the life of an actor, singer, band or other artist would be. Some celebrities really do interact with their fans, especially those who offer genuine advice to relevant real-world problems and issues that celebs face.

The average Twitter user is probably a good mix of several of these user types, but with one dominant type. For instance, you might user Twitter mostly to chat with your friends, but you might also follow celebrities and artists. Or perhaps you use Twitter to talk about your products and services, but also read up on what people are saying about topics of interest. The main consideration here is that Twitter is not just a web application, but it’s a platform that people are continuously building upon. There are probably more than these seven types of people you meet on Twitter. But do take the time to reflect: which one are you?

Cool Twitter Tools

Have more fun with Twitter with these interesting tools.

TweetDeck - A popular desktop program that adds many features to Twitter
TwitterBerry - A Twitter app for Blackberry smartphones
PeopleBrowsr - Similar interface to Tweetdeck but it's web-based
twitQA - Ask and answer questions on Twitter on this site
FriendOrFollow - Find who's following you that you're not following and vice versa
Tweetie - A Twitter app for the iPhone
Twellow - Think yellow pages for Twitter users