The internet traffic to the social network site Twitter has increased 22-fold over the last 12 months, which brought it to the 38th position among the most visited websites in the UK. It also emerged as the fifth most visited social network, according to internet analyst Hitwise.
One year ago, the micro-blogging site was the 969th most visited website and 84th most visited social network.
Robin Goad, director of research at Hitwise, said: “The noticeable thing about Twitter’s growth is that the vast majority of it has occurred during 2009. Media coverage of the site has escalated significantly this year and high profile celebrity endorsements, by everyone from Stephen Fry to Ashton Kutcher, have come rolling in.”
The Hitwise report found that Twitter has become the key source of traffic to other websites, with over half of the traffic sent to other content-driven online media sites, such as social networks, blogs, news and entertainment websites. In May, Twitter stood at 27th place as a source of traffic to media and newspaper websites in the UK.
Twitpic, a service that allows users to upload photos and pictures to their Twitter profiles, is the most benefited third party website through Twitter’s growth over the past few months.
Goad added: Given that Twitter has yet to settle on a business model that will take advantage of its huge, loyal user base, this is an issue that needs to be addressed if they are to make the service a financial as well as a popular success.
