An analysis of 43,738 tweets from 1,443 users offers some valuable insights into emerging communication norms on Twitter.
The study (PDF) by researchers Paul André of Carnegie Mellon, Michael Bernstein of MIT, and Kurt Luther of Georgia Tech aimed to uncover what makes for a good message on Twitter.
The team found that the most valued tweets were informative, funny and encouraged conversation. Perhaps surprising, they also found that self-promotional messages also elicited a positive response.
By comparison, the worst crime someone could commit on Twitter was being boring. This was by far the most cited reason for not valuing a tweet.
Among the other bad practices identified by the researchers were repeating old news, being cryptic or using too many hashtags.
In her piece for The Atlantic, Megan Garber had a go at putting together “the Most Annoying Tweet Imaginable”:
BREAKING: Last week I had a #sandwich that was SO HORRIBLE, it made me want to #scream. Seriously, why can’t they make better #sandwiches?
— Megan Garber (@megangarber) January 31, 2012
Instead, the study suggests the best tweets are informative, entertaining and encourage a response. Quite a lot to pack into 140 characters.
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