Only About a Third of Tweets Are Worth Reading [STUDY]

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Researchers at Carnegie Mellon, MIT and Georgia Tech joined forces to get a sense of how most tweets go over. They created a website called Who Gives a Tweet? that was sort of like a Hot or Not for tweets: Users were promised feedback on their tweets if they agreed to anonymously rate tweets for people they already follow.

Over 19 days in December and January, 1,443 visitors to the site rated 43,738 tweets from 2,014 accounts.

The verdict? Respondents liked 36% of the tweets, disliked 25% and ranked their reaction to the remaining 39% as neutral. "A well-received tweet is not all that common," Michael Bernstein, a doctoral student at MIT who worked on the project, wrote in a blog post. "A significant amount of content is considered not worth reading, for a variety of reasons."

Tweets that were part of a semi-private conversation were among the most reviled. Also unpopular: Tweets relating to a mood ("So tired today") or activity ("Just ate a sandwich.") On the other hand, sharing information, asking questions of followers and self-promotion, like linking to a story you just wrote (if you're a journalist) were more likable.

The study's authors offered a few suggestions for producing better tweets:

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Don't tweet old links.

Add an opinion or fact to an ongoing story.

Keep it short.

Don't go crazy with the Twitter syntax; limit use of hashtags and @mentions, etc.

Don't tweet about the sandwich you just ate. "Reviewers reserved a special hatred for Foursquare location check-ins," the blog post notes.

Provide context. Tweets that are too short also annoy users.

Don't whine.

Tease content. If you want people to click through, don't give away the whole story in your tweet.

If you're a public figure, provide insights, don't gossip or provide mundane details of your life.

What do you think? Are there tweets that get under your skin as well? What tips would you offer. Let us know in the comments.