24 February 2012
In a refreshingly straightforward statement, the co-founder of Twitter has told its users to stop tweeting and go do something else.
Biz Stone - one of the four men who created Twitter and the company's creative director - said that users should log in to find the information they want and then leave, because spending hours at a time on the site "sounds unhealthy."
Since the micro-blogging site's introduction in 2006, users have repeatedly complained that the site is incredibly addictive, with some users reportedly staying logged on for 12 hours at a time.
As an invited speaker at a conference for the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, Stone said: "I like the kind of engagement where you go to a website and you leave because you've found what you are looking for or you found something interesting and you learned something.
"I think that's a much healthier engagement. Obviously, we want you to come frequently."
The comment comes as Twitter reportedly reached the landmark number of 500 million registered accounts on the service.
According to Twopcharts, Twitter was declared to have had the 500-millionth user shortly after 1pm on Wednesday.
However, there are questions that surround those figures, as the site notes the numbers are based on registered but not necessarily active accounts - meaning it could include dormant, deleted or never used accounts.
Media experts speculate that if the number of Twitter accounts keep growing at the same rate, the site will hit 1 billion users in about a year and a half - or sooner if growth accelerates.
Twitter has made no official comment about the registered user milestone.
Twitter co-founder says excessive tweeting 'sounds unhealthy'
In a refreshingly straightforward statement, the co-founder of Twitter has told its users to stop tweeting and go do something else. Biz Stone - one of the four men who created Twitter and the company's creative director - said that users should log in to find the information they want and then leave, because spending hours at a time on the site "sounds unhealthy."
Since the micro-blogging site's introduction in 2006, users have repeatedly complained that the site is incredibly addictive, with some users reportedly staying logged on for 12 hours at a time.
As an invited speaker at a conference for the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, Stone said: "I like the kind of engagement where you go to a website and you leave because you've found what you are looking for or you found something interesting and you learned something.
"I think that's a much healthier engagement. Obviously, we want you to come frequently."
The comment comes as Twitter reportedly reached the landmark number of 500 million registered accounts on the service.
According to Twopcharts, Twitter was declared to have had the 500-millionth user shortly after 1pm on Wednesday.
However, there are questions that surround those figures, as the site notes the numbers are based on registered but not necessarily active accounts - meaning it could include dormant, deleted or never used accounts.
Media experts speculate that if the number of Twitter accounts keep growing at the same rate, the site will hit 1 billion users in about a year and a half - or sooner if growth accelerates.
Twitter has made no official comment about the registered user milestone.
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