Just when it seems that every headline makes some reference to Twitter, we get the news that the majority of people depart from the social networking service within the first month.
Nielsen Online, which measures Internet traffic, found that 60 percent of the people who sign up for Twitter are gone by the next month. At 40 percent retention, the site lags far behind the other major social networking sites, Facebook and MySpace, both of which have retention rates around 70 percent, Nielsen said.
Twitter, which lets users send messages of up to 140 characters, has gotten a lot of attention lately as celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher, Oprah Winfrey and Shaquille O’Neal use it to keep in contact with fans. This has spurred phenomenal growth over the past year, but Twitter is up to only about 7 million users vs. 200 million on Facebook. To read more about these findings, click here.
- Speaking of headlines, no one’s gotten more ink in the past few months than Nadya Suleman, the Whittier, CA, mother of octuplets. Now, the Whittier Daily News reports that a Los Angeles theater group is preparing to stage “Octomom the Musical.” No surprise that it’s a comedy. Full story here.
- Shasta County residents should get an eyeful of great old cars this weekend as more than 50 Model A Fords gather in Redding for events hosted by the Redding Rambling A’s. The cars, all more than 75 years old, will come from throughout Northern California, Oregon and Nevada. Their owners will visit Darrah State Fish Hatchery, Old Shasta, Cottonwood and Anderson as well as Redding.
- Music fans are in for a treat as the Shasta College Theatre hosts several band events. Tonight, the 22-member Community Jazz Big Band will play a variety of jazz styles. On Friday and Saturday, the Shasta College Community Band, 110 members strong, will perform “greatest hits” concerts marking the band’s 30th anniversary. All of the shows start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are only $2 for each concert. What a bargain!
- Mark your calendars for next Wednesday (May 6), when national walking expert Mark Fenton leads a free workshop on ways to make Redding more convenient and safe for pedestrians and bicyclists. The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a downtown “walkabout,” followed by a discussion at 6 p.m. in Room 8220 of the Shasta College Health Sciences Center at 1400 Market Street.
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