A quintly study of 30,000 Twitter profiles in the first half of 2016 reveals a 40% decline in follower growth compared to the same period in 2015, indicating potential saturation of Twitter activity. Interaction rates have increased overall, especially among smaller profiles, while larger profiles experienced a drastic 58% drop in interactions despite consistent daily tweet frequencies. The study also highlights a decline in retweets and mentions, reflecting a shift in user engagement towards creating original content.

1. Twitter Study
H1 2016
quintly analyzed 30,000 Twitter profiles
with different follower counts during H1 2016.
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2. This semi annual study of 2016 will help
marketers understand the distribution of
engagement on Twitter. The numbers will
give insights into specific details of usage
and strategy of this channel.
By clustering profiles and pages in six
different sized groups, every marketer is
able to benchmark their own performance
against the individual average.
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3. Follower growth falls by 40% compared to first half of 2015
Growth rate levelled off at 4% in 2016
The first half of 2016 shows that the average follower
growth on Twitter remains stable. However, compared
to the first half of 2015 we revealed that the growth
declined by 40%. This could indicate that Twitter
activity was becoming more saturated.
As part of many marketing strategies, the follower
growth is an important indicator for the success of a
business on Twitter. More followers enable brands to
reach a broader audience.
Chart: Monthly follower growth of analyzed profiles
during H1 2015 & 2016
Data Source: quintly analyzed 30k Twitter profiles.
Data Period: First half of 2016.
10.0%
JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN
7.5%
5.0%
2.5%
0.0%
H1 2015 H1 2016

4. Number of daily tweets remain consistent
Businesses keep up the pace with tweets
Twitter users focus on creating a constant flow of
content for their follower base. The number of daily
posts slightly varies from month to month, but
remains stable between the years.
The chart shows the number of daily tweets in 2016
has been continuing in more or less the same
frequency as in the first half 2015.
Chart: Daily tweets on Twitter
Data Source: quintly analyzed 30k Twitter profiles.
Data Period: First half of 2016.
JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN
H1 2015 H1 2016
6.0
4.5
3.0
1.5
0.0

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6. Compared to 2015, the first half of 2016 shows a
rise in the overall interaction rates. The interaction
rate consists of all retweets, favorites & replies
divided by posts and followers, excluding the
profiles that have more than 10 million followers.
The graph indicates that the overall iInteraction
rate has risen compared to 2015. Especially
smaller profiles are more prone to like, reply and
retweet the content of other users.
Chart: Overall interaction rate on Twitter
Data Source: quintly analyzed 30k Twitter profiles.
Data Period: First half of 2016.
Overall interaction rate rises in H1 2016
Gain of overall interaction for smallest profile has risen
1-1K
1K-10K
10K-100K
100K-1m
1m-10m
10m+
0.08 0.150 0.23 0.30
H1 2015 H1 2016

7. Interactions for biggest profiles decreased by 58%
Smaller profiles remain unchanged whereas the biggest profiles show drastic changes
The biggest profiles interactions massively
declined by 58% although the number of daily
tweets has been almost unchanged during H1
2015 and 2016.
We discovered that larger Twitter profiles are
heavily losing audience attention.
Chart: Interactions on Twitter
Data Source: quintly analyzed 30k Twitter profiles.
Data Period: First half of 2016.
1-1K 1K-10K 10K-100K 100K-1m 1m-10m 10m+
H1 2015 H1 2016
6000
4500
3000
1500
0
1,982
4,767
66 71
204 233
12 173 41 1

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9. The amount of retweets is steadily declining
Profiles are less likely to retweet compared to 2015
Retweets are used less by Twitter users. The
declining trend of retweets has been observed
over a period of six months.
This means that users are focusing on their own
content rather than retweeting, as the own tweet
frequency remain unchanged, seen in the previous
chart.
Chart: Average amount of retweets
Data Source: quintly analyzed 30k Twitter profiles.
Data Period: First quarter of 2016.
JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN
H1 2015 H1 2016
250
225
200
175
150

10. Downfall in mentions on Twitter
Decreased average mentions coincide with decreasing interaction rates
In particular, the biggest profiles analyzed endure a
loss of interactions and here we see an example of
a significant decrease in mentions.
This downfall trend of average mentions on
Twitter has been observed similarly to the decline
of interaction rates. It is a further indicator for
lower engagement on Twitter.
Chart: Average mentions on Twitter
Data Source: quintly analyzed 30k Twitter profiles.
Data Period: First quarter of 2016.
10m+
1m-10m
100K-1m
10K-100K
1K-10K
1-1K
40,000 80,0000 120,000 160,000
H1 2015 H1 2016
137,594
58,165
32,091
25,234
7,794
5,713
1,236
852
188
120
17
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11. #
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