Top Twitter Usage Locations and Tweet Types

I was one of the early adopters of Twitter. I was at SXSW in March of 2007 when Twitter had its coming out party and was the hit and buzz of the conference. I quickly signed up, understood what it was used for, but really didn’t use it much as I didn’t have many personal contacts using it. I essentially completely stopped using it.

Fast forward a year, and I’m now a moderate daily Twitter user. I have numerous friends and colleagues using it regularly, and my usage has picked up with the mobile version of the site which is my primary interface for it through my iPhone.

My increased use has patterns though. I notice that I tweet from a consistent group of locations and usually my tweets are similar when I tweet from those locations. I began wondering what the top physical locations are that people commonly send out tweets, and if they also have a common type of tweet from this location. This is entirely unscientific as it’s only based on me perusing Summize and then guessing, but here goes:

1. At a computer
Even though Twitter is a service that was originally designed as a mobile phone tool, I’d estimate either a majority or close to a majority of the usage is done while people are actually on their computer. They may be using Twitter.com directly, or one of the many popular Twitter applications that have been built.

These tweets are probably the most diverse, but I think they tend to be around what people are working on, reading, listening to, or just thinking while avoiding work or homework.

Fake Example: patmccarthy I just finished avoiding paying bills after reading an article on Microhoo and listening to the new Coldplay single.

2. At a restaurant or eating
People love to talk about what they’re eating. So why not talk about it on Twitter as well? It’s one of our key human needs and people get excited over food. I catch myself tweeting about what I just ate or where I’m going to eat. Most often I’ll post from my phone while waiting for a to-go order or waiting for a table.

Partially Fake Example: cammcneeley Just picked up a GJ’s breakfast burrito to enjoy while watching golf and avoiding house chores.

3. After watching a movie or TV show
Who doesn’t like giving their best Roger Ebert impression by reviewing the movie they just watched? Or perhaps it’s a TV show they can’t get enough of. Personally I think I’ve rarely ever tweeted about TV, but have done my share of 140 character or less movie reviews.

I actually think this is one of the most useful uses of I’ve personally experienced on Twitter. Seeing what my friends think about a movie they just saw in such a summarized form is very helpful.

Partially Fake Example: showtimeshane Just saw Semi Pro with Will Farrell, and did you just call me Jive Turkey?

4. In the bathroom
This one is disgusting, but I suspect that people use their mobile phones to send the occasional tweets from the bathroom to pass the time. It’s only a hunch and not based on any clear evidence, and it’s also difficult to tell which tweets would be occurring in this location.

Fake Example: I’m not even going to try to give an example here.

5. In transit (train, taxi, car, walking)
One of the most common locations, you’ll see a lot of tweets while people are in transit from work or school (hopefully not while driving). These messages are usually something about the day’s plans, the weather, the mood of the tweeter, or the current state of the commute.

Real Example: nicolehill Good: journey to train station only took 15 mins. Bad: getting to train station for 0647 is not the same as being on a train at 0647…

6. Airports
The Twitterati (those who Twitter) tend to be part of the technology workforce that travels for business and events quite a bit. One of the places that these people are often bored enough to send tweets is at the airport. These can range from boring updates like I make where I just state where I am and where I’m going, to random observations such as the one below.

Real Example: awnisALAN my friend called me an airport whore just because she saw me talking to some girls at the baggage claim

7. Drunk
Twitter is so easy to use that even while drunk people still participate quite often. There’s really no rhyme or reason to the typical messages that are posted while people are drunk, but here is a representative sample of the value.

Real Example: tasha70 yay back in thebay & it feels gr8,jus left my cuzns gettin drunk lol

8. At a party
This one goes hand in hand with the drunk Twitter usage, but often times the user is sober so the message is more coherent. They’re usually either bragging about the party they’re at, or making fun of the party they’re at.

Partially Fake Example: JasonCalacanis at an a double secret probation poker party in the Hollywood Hills. Just flopped a straight on Brad Pitt, up two-hundey by midnight.

9. Listening to music
Twitter users are sensitive and emotional, so nothing touches them like listening to a song that either helps them heal, or pumps them up. Often they wax philosophic.

Real Example: dccaesar “They say love is blind, but you are always on my mind”? What? “But”? Still a great song. Bonnie Tyler is a modern day Roch Voisine.

10. At an event
This varies widely. It could be a concert, sporting event, or some type of business conference or event.

Partially Fake Example: Techcrunch liveblogging WWDC. Steve Jobs just pulled out the new 3G iPhone. It microwaves and writes blog posts for you. Apple stock down 20% on the news.

Agree or disagree? What did I miss?