Still Tweeting

What makes a Twitter account successful? Is it the number of followers? The number of tweets? Maybe it is how many people like or retweet something, or how many click on a link or send a reply.

For example, a website called MyTopTweet will analyze any Twitter account to reveal which tweets have been retweeted the most. Based on their analysis, here are my top five:

• Instead of deleting texts you want to hide from your spouse, delete the contact who tempts you to send them.
• Date night doesn't have to be a night. It can also be date afternoon, date morning, date lunch, etc.
• Never criticize your spouse in front of others. If you have a legitimate complaint, discuss it in private.
• When you cheat on your spouse you are cheating your children, too.
• A small amount of effort can have a big payoff. Do the little things that make your spouse feel loved.

Twitter itself has a different way of measuring top tweets. They simply look at which ones have received the most impressions – that is, which tweets may have been seen in someone's stream. I doubt that’s a real measure of popularity or effectiveness, since visiblity is probably affected by the time of day and how many people are online more than anything else. Nevertheless, here are the top five:

• There is no "time out" in marriage. Be there!
• "We do not pick our perfect match because we ourselves are not perfect." ~ Hugh and Gail Prather
• The choices you make say more about your real feelings, beliefs, and priorities than any words you speak.
• "Cellulite and sexual potential are highly correlated." ~ David Schnarch
• Reach out and hold your sweetheart's hand.

When it comes to overall popularity, the top Twitter accounts have many millions of followers. That may seem discouraging to those of us who measure our followers in the hundreds, or even thousands. The reality is that the powerful super accounts are a tiny minority.

According to data analyst Jon Bruner, among Twitter accounts that have posted in the last 30 days, the median account has 61 users. If you have more than 1000 followers, you are doing better than 96% of these active accounts.

As of today, I have a little over 1800 followers. If I can just figure out a way to double that, I'll make it to the top one percent, along with the likes of Katy Perry, Jimmy Fallon, and Twitter itself.