Twopcharts, a site that monitors web activity, found that 44% of Twitter’s 974 million registered users have never tweeted, according to The Wall Street Journal. Some 30% of existing Twitter accounts have sent 10 or fewer tweets, and just 13% of registered accounts have tweeted more than 100 times. Twopcharts is unable to discern whether users have logged onto their accounts. Its report is based on users’ activity.

The report, which was released Friday, comes after Twitter disclosed in February that it had 244 million active monthly users in the last three months of 2013, meaning about 730 million people have created accounts on the site, but are not active on a monthly basis.

Twopcharts has previously reported that of the 284.4 million new accounts in 2013, only 12.9% were still tweeting in February 2014.

Realizing that some new users find its experience hard to navigate, Twitter has introduced enhancements lately including restyled, Facebook-like user profile pages and pop-up notifications on its website.

For Twitter, increasing engagement helps fight churn, since active users are less likely to abandon the service. Tweeting, favoriting and resharing also help Twitter to target ads for users since by taking such actions, the users indicate their preferences and interests.

The report comes as Twitter’s stock price is flirting with its all-time low. At this writing, the stock was hovering around $40 in early trading. The stock has traded for as low as $38.80.

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The new profile features a larger user photo and customizable header image. Twitter highlights your tweets that have the most engagement by displaying them slightly larger than the rest. You can also pin one of your tweets to the top of the page.

Furthermore, you can now choose which timeline to view when checking out a profile page. You can see all tweets, tweets with photos and videos only, or just tweets and replies.

As for the similarities of Twitter’s new user profiles to Facebook’s profile page, well, they’re inescapable. There’s a square profile photo in the top left, and a large “cover” photo on top dominates both pages, for example. Below the profile photo you’ll find the basic info about the user, and under that is photos and friends. The only real difference there is that on Twitter’s user profiles, photos are placed below your followers, and Facebook has it the other way around. It’ll be interesting to see what the users think of the new look — especially those that are not overly fond of Facebook.

The new profile design is already live for a handful of celebrities, including Zac Efron, Channing Tatum, Floyd Mayweather and John Legend, and it will also show up for new users. The rest of us will have to wait as the new look rolls out over the “coming weeks.”

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As the company wrote in its advertising blog: “Now advertisers can easily reach Twitter users exposed to integrations, sponsorships, and other innovative TV tie-ins for an additional touch point or message expansion.”

TV conversation targeting is launching in the United States and the UK and is coming soon to Brazil, Canada, France and Spain. The offering is distinct from TV ad targeting, a feature Twitter launched in July that lets advertisers augment their TV buys with Twitter campaigns.

Image: Getty/Scott Eells

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In order to make the most of the available space, we took a look at how you can optimize your avatars and cover photos on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Google+.

Read our guidelines below, which include the optimum sizes for imagery across all sites, and some handy tips and tricks to bear in mind when choosing the right photographs.

Facebook

Facebook profile photos are cropped square, so we advise you to use an image that is already in this ratio — that way, you can avoid hastily cropping it right after you upload it. Profile pics are displayed at 160 x 160 pixels, but the image you upload must have minimum measurements of 180 x 180 pixels.

Cover photos come in at 851 x 315 pixels. While the minimum size is 399 x 150 pixels, images that are smaller than the optimum dimensions will get stretched and look awful.

Your profile photo is the one that’s seen most around the site (next to posts, comments, etc.), so it’s important that your choice works well as a small, standalone image. However, if you want to get creative by making your profile pic and cover image work together, note that your profile image displays 23 pixels from the left side and 210 pixels from the top of your cover photo.

If you’re all about fast load times, it’s worth noting that Facebook recommends your cover photo be an sRGB JPG file that’s 851 pixels wide, 315 pixels tall and less than 100KB. If your image is logo- or text-based, then Facebook suggests using a PNG file to get higher quality results.

Twitter

Twitter displays profile photos really small, so it’s important to choose an image that works in miniature. Twitter also uses square profile pics, so be sure to scale yours appropriately before you upload it.

While the maximum file size for a Twitter avatar is 2MB, it will show only as 73 x 73 pixels on your profile page and a teeny 48 x 48 pixels in tweets.

However, if people click through to your profile and then click on your avatar, it will show up larger (as it will in some Twitter clients), so it’s worth uploading an image that will display bigger than the small, default sizes.

Twitter header photos can be up to 5MB in size. The recommended dimensions for these images are 1252 x 626 pixels. Bear in mind your Twitter account name, handle, bio, location and URL will all appear over your header image, so you need to consider choosing a photo that will work behind text and will not obscure the text.

Google +

Photos are a bit different on Google+, where the network crops profile photos as circles. You’ll need to consider what kind of image will work in a round format.

Your avatar is displayed 120 x 120 pixels on your profile, but not all of that will show up due to the round crop. With images showing up as small as 48 x 48 pixels in posts and just 28 x 28 in comments and other activity, this is another example of needing to choose a pic that will work well on a small scale.

The Google+ cover, or feature photo, is a tricky one, as it dynamically resizes depending on screen area. As far as measurements go, the minimum size is 480 x 270 pixels, and the recommended size is 960 x 540 pixels, but if you want your image to look good on large or retina displays, you’ll want to upload a photo that’s 2120 x 1192 pixels.

However, keep in mind that unless anyone takes the time to scroll up on the default desktop view, there is only a small area of the cover photo that will be seen on your profile — the very bottom.

YouTube

Since Google linked Google+ page identities with YouTube, your YouTube “channel icon,” or avatar, is linked to your Google+ profile photo.

YouTube offers detailed information on how to optimize your other channel imagery though, including downloadable templates to help.

Similar to Google+, your cover photo, or “channel art” as YouTube calls it, will auto-rescale to fit the size of screen on which you’re viewing a video. In order to get “optimal results on all devices,” YouTube recommends uploading a 2560 x 1440 pixel image (including a “safe area”).

The minimum display size for channel art is 1546 x 423 pixels, so you can be sure nothing within this area, such as text and logos, will be cut off.

LinkedIn

As a professional social networking site, LinkedIn has some official guidelines as to what kind of photo you can use. The site states that “a photo can be removed by LinkedIn if your profile image is not your likeness or a headshot photo,” so it’s best to stick to the basics.

With a max file size of 4MB, you can upload a square JPG, GIF or PNG. The default size for a LinkedIn avatar on your profile page is 200 x 200 pixels, but users can click to enlarge the image up to 450 x 450 pixels.

Company pages are a little different. The standard company logo displayed on LinkedIn pages is 100 x 60 pixels, and the square logo is 50 by 50 pixels. You can also upload a homepage cover photo-style image to a company page. The minimum recommended size is 646 x 220 pixels.

Image: Flickr, baldiri

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In comparison to Facebook’s numbers leading up to its IPO last year, Twitter has far fewer active users, far less ad revenue and far greater losses. On the other hand, Twitter is planning a much smaller IPO, which may insulate it against some of the sell off Facebook experienced, and it has at least one key asset that Facebook didn’t have at this point in the process: significant mobile ad revenue.

Here are a few key stats comparing the two companies:

Twitter plans to raise $1 billion from its public offering. Facebook initially planned to raise $5 billion in its IPO, but increased that to $16 billion by the time it went public.

Twitter reported having 218 million monthly active users and more than 100 million daily active users in its S-1. Facebook’s initial S-1 revealed the social network had 845 million monthly active users and 483 million daily active users. By the time Facebook went public, those numbers had increased to 901 million monthly active users and 526 million daily active users and it now has 1.15 billion and 699 million, respectively.

Twitter reported generating $317 million in revenue in 2012. Facebook generated $3.7 billion in revenue — more than ten times as much — in 2011, the year before its IPO.

In an unorthodox move, Twitter did not disclose revenue per user. Instead, Twitter said its ad revenue “per 1,000 timeline views” was $2.17 in the second quarter in the U.S. and $0.30 in the rest of the world. Facebook generated $3.67 in ad revenue per U.S. and Canada user in the second quarter of this year and $1.41 per user worldwide.

Just as importantly, Twitter is still not profitable. Twitter lost nearly $80 million in 2012 and reported a net loss of $69 million in the first six months of this year. Facebook reported a profit of $1 billion in the full year before its IPO.

Twitter’s S-1 proved that it is already a mobile-first company: 65% of Twitter’s ad revenue comes from mobile products. Facebook, by comparison, had only just started to advertise on mobile by the time it went public and reported that mobile accounted for 41% of its total ad revenue in the most recent quarter.

If the IPO paperwork is any indication, Twitter also appears to be more mindful of Facebook than Facebook was of Twitter at this point. Twitter mentioned the word “Facebook” 9 times in its S-1. Facebook only mentioned “Twitter” twice.

Image: Steve Jennings/Getty

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Twitter, which announced the move on its blog on Thursday, illustrated the upgrade with this Aug. 11 tweet from astronaut Chris Hadfield:

Good morning! Perspective – Sunday is a fine day to go for a walk with a friend. pic.twitter.com/P3uDfjYsEU

— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) August 11, 2013

“As you can see from @CMDR_Hatfield’s Tweet embedded above, we’ve put the photo front and center, with a bigger and bold visual focus on the media,” Brian Ellin, Twitter’s project manager, platform, wrote in the blog post. “Both landscape and portrait photos now have more room to show their pixels when the Tweets are embedded online.”

Reemerging into society after backpacking ~35 miles through Yosemite’s Grand Canyon of Tuolumne River. My legs hurt. pic.twitter.com/TkjNgKn6b8

— Bill Couch (@couch) July 7, 2013

Improving the photo experience make them more viable for inclusion in articles now that there’s competition from Facebook. Facebook’s embeds came as the company was revving up its real-time marketing opportunities (shortly before, the company introduced hashtags). Instagram, a unit of Facebook, launched embedded posts in July, shortly before Facebook did the same. Instagram’s embeds include video as well as photos. Twitter’s Vine videos are also embeddable.

For a short period, Facebook had not only caught up with Twitter, but also surpassed it by letting news organizations run richer embeds in their stories. Now, the two appear to be on equal footing.

Image: Mary Turner/Getty Images

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In addition to the texts and notifications, ‘alert’ tweets will appear alongside an orange bell icon in the Twitter stream.

“Twitter Alerts [is] a new feature that brings us one step closer to helping users get important and accurate information from credible organizations during emergencies, natural disasters or moments when other communications services aren’t accessible,” explained Gaby Peña, a product manager at Twitter, on the company’s blog.

Twitter already has more than 70 participants for the new system, including The American Red Cross, FEMA, and global non-profits like the World Health Organization. In addition to state and regional accounts (like the New Jersey State Police), Twitter Alerts also partners with a number of international accounts, mostly in Japan.

Users can specify which accounts they’d like to receive alerts from at their setup page: twitter.com/[username]/alerts.

Twitter has already solidified itself as a valuable communication tool during times of crisis. Following events like the Boston Marathon Bombings and Superstorm Sandy last October, Twitter was used by media organizations and authorities to share news quickly and to those without cable or landline access.

This new feature comes on the heels of another alert feature Twitter announced yesterday. Twitter’s mobile users can now receive follow recommendations via push notifications, too. Users will be alerted when a number of people in their network follow a new user, or retweet or favorite the same tweet.

Will you sign up to receive Twitter Alerts? Tell us in the comments below.

Image: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images; Twitter

The post Twitter Unveils Emergency Alert System – Digital Marketing News appeared first on Digitrock.

What’s notable is that these spammers weren’t sending tweets or direct messages. Instead, they made use of Twitter’s list function, adding people to various lists and indirectly pointing thousands of users toward spam sites.

Lists are typically used to organize Twitter users into more distinct groups. You might have separate lists for celebrities, colleagues and friends, which allows you to monitor several different streams at the same time through tools like TweetDeck. A few months back, Twitter increased the number of lists each user can have from 20 to 1,000 and the maximum number of accounts in each list from 500 to 5,000.

While not entirely new, as noted by BuzzFeed’s Charlie Warzel, it’s a capability that is now being abused by spammers, who are adding users to lists populated with links en masse. Each time you’re added to a list, you get a notification on Twitter and perhaps via email. Naturally, you’ll be keen to find out why you were added to the list and, spammers hope, click their links.

One of the biggest offenders in the current wave was an account called Celeb Phone Numbers. Before Twitter suspended it, the account automatically added tens of thousands of users to lists. It promised to reveal the phone numbers of stars like One Direction singer Tomlinson and Lady Gaga through an associated website.

Warzel reported the person behind the Celeb Phone Numbers account used a Twitter keyword marketing tool to find people who had tweeted about those stars and added them to its lists. That person shared their finding on marketing forums, spurring other spammers to try the tactic. The spammers make money if you complete surveys or view ads on their sites.

The Celeb Phone Numbers account was immediately reported as spam by many users Sunday night:

you cant spam add me to your list now can u pic.twitter.com/sStoEvemkE

— katie (@seasidenouis) September 15, 2013

Twitter is fighting a war against spammers. A study published last month showed how vendors created thousands of phony accounts and sold them to spammers wholesale. Twitter is adding the researchers’ methods for finding such accounts into its abuse-detection systems. Tracking down and killing spam accounts is a high priority as the company prepares to hold an initial public stock offering.

Image: Andy Melton

The post Why You Were Added to Twitter Spam Lists – Twitter Marketing appeared first on Digitrock.

The update will allow verified users (those with the blue check marks) to filter their Twitter mentions within the “Connect” tab above their feed.

Verified users can now view their mentions in three separate categories: all, filtered, and verified. The idea is to help those users identify the conversations that may be most important to them by sifting out the spam.

Viewing connections in the “Verified” category will only show mentions by other verified users. Users who view mentions under the “Filtered” category will see posts “based on an algorithm we use to filter out spam,” wrote Product Manager Ed Gutman in the company’s blog post.

The new perk is another way to encourage Twitter’s most popular users to stay active on the platform. Last month, Facebook confirmed that it was also working on a VIP-only app to encourage celebs to engage more regularly with fans.

On Twitter any user can, in theory, get a message in front of any other user on the platform. Making it easier to sift through those messages may encourage the verified users to interact more readily with others through tweets — or it may mean that VIPs will be more likely to stick to themselves.

For now, the new feature will only be available on the site’s web version, although Twitter plans to bring it to mobile at some point in the future, wrote Gutman.

Do you believe this will increase engagement on Twitter? Tell us in the comments below.

Images: Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images, Twitter

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Trendrr has two products: One, Trendrr.TV, provides TV networks, publishers and media agencies with tools to track TV engagement across social networks, including Twitter. A second, Curatorr, allows those same parties to sort through social streams to visualize data and to help them identify high-quality tweets — tweets that might, say, get retweeted by a TV show’s Twitter account, or show up on air during The Bachelor.

It’s this latter product, a Twitter spokesperson says, that Twitter intends to take advantage of. Twitter already provides ad and analytics products for TV advertisers, including the ability for national advertisers to retarget their TV ads to Twitter users. The acquisition will allow Twitter to offer additional services to networks, publishers and other organizations, the spokesperson says.

The move follows several others Twitter has made in the TV space this year. Most recently, Twitter announced its first head of entertainment sales: Jennifer Prince, formerly the head of media and entertainment sales at Google. The company is also planning to roll out a TV ratings system with Nielsen in the fall, which will provide TV networks with ratings based on Twitter buzz.

Trendrr CEO Mark Ghuneim says the company will continue to work with its current partners following the acquisition, but will not add any new ones:

Curatorr, our Twitter certified product, will work with media companies, marketers, and display ecosystem partners to create compelling user experiences – continuing to pursue our initial charter of focusing on the real-time aspects of TV and media.

We intend to honor existing partner contracts for Trendrr.TV but we do not plan to establish new ones going forward.

Trendrr was founded in mid-2007 and is based in New York.

Note: This story was updated with comments from a Twitter spokesperson, above.

Image: Mashable composite; iStockphoto, belterz

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