Twitter nonsensical babble, study finds.

Twitter is nonsensical babble, concludes a study by two Rutgers University professors Mor Naaman and Jeffrey Boase.   The professors dissected more than 3,000 tweets from more than 350 Twitter users and concluded that 80 percent of users are "meformers," meaning writing mostly "me now" status updates, according to a recent issue of Public Relations Society of America tactics. "Me now" updates cover everyday activities, social lives, feelings, thoughts and emotions, according to researchers. This study comes on the heels of research showing that 40 percent of tweets are pointless babble, along the lines of "eating sandwich now," according to a random sample of 2,000 messages by Pear Analytics.

So why the race by PR professionals, journalism schools and established media outlets to associate with Twitter? Good question. My analysis is we are seeing a herd mentality with little thought being given to the content. Journalism schools are racing to offer courses in social media. Communications departments at major universities are hiring scholars who then get research grants to study this development. In reality, all this hubbub makes little sense. Like so many fads, it deserves to be viewed skeptically.

So what is the explanation for the rise of Twitterdom?  My guess is so many people fear they are going to be left behind that they are jumping on the Twitter, Facebook and social media bandwagons. In reality, much of what is being posted is not new information, but self-serving, narcissistic nonsense. These dispatches offer little in the way of collective wisdom.