New report finds silent majority on Twitter

New report finds silent majority on Twitter

(NECN: Ted McEnroe) - If silence is golden, millions of people who have signed up for Twitter are wildly rich. More on that in a moment, but first:

If you've been following the Boston Globe saga and wondering how newspapers like the Globe have found themselves in such a bind - a new report from the Pew Internet and American Life project sheds light on part of the problem - showing that online classified ads on Craigslist and other sites are costing newspapers billions. The report found that the percentage of Americans who have used online classifieds has more than doubled - from 22% four years ago to 49% today. That's great news for Craigslist, which has generated $100 million in revenue from paid ads alongside their free offerings.

But it's been disastrous for the newspaper industry. Since 2005, newspaper classified ad revenues have fallen by 43%, from $17.4 billion to just under $10 billion, according to Pew.

While circulation woes get the headlines - as fewer Americans read a daily paper - it's this advertising shift that has some of the most direct impact on newspapers' bottom lines.

And it turns out the voice in "Field of Dreams" has been dead on for Twitter. "If you build it, they will come."

But they might not do anything when they get there.

Cambridge (Mass.)-based marketing firm Hubspot finds in its

June "State of the Twittersphere" report that while millions of people are signing up for Twitter accounts each month, more than 55% of them aren't following anyone - which makes the service pretty useless, sort of like joining Facebook and not finding any friends. It's quiet and lonely.

Meanwhile - Hubspot also finds that more than half of all Twitter accounts - just under 55% - have never tweeted.

If you don't follow anyone on Twitter... and don't talk to anyone on Twitter... do you make a sound? Probably not.

Even more active users haven't always done much to make themselves easier to find or more attractive to other users - 76% haven't entered a bio to tell people who they are, and 69% don't say where they are from - the little pieces of information that make you much more likely to be followed and become more engaged in the Twittersphere.

But those who are active on the service, once they get into it, seem to have some staying power. They tweet an average of once a day.

And if you're curious - Thursday is the biggest Twitter day. So get tweeting!