Celebrity Tweets Push Twitter Past NYT, WSJ

By Tom Dunlap

Whatever you think of Twitter -- either you realize it's a great tool for spreading/acquiring information, or you see it as a huge waste of time -- it's hard to argue with the numbers.

The microblogging phenomenon continues to surge. As the site Paidcontent.com reported today:

This is what the "Oprah impact," Ashton Kutcher's followers race with CNN, and non-stop coverage from tech and media blogs amounts to: Twitter actually surpassed both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal for unique visits in April.

This news followed a huge month in March, when unique Twitter visitors skyrocketed in the U.S., according to one tracking site. ComScore estimated that unique visitors to Twitter.com grew 131 percent between February and March to 9.3 million visitors. Not only did Twitter more than double the number of people that go to its site in a single month, but it accelerated its growth from the 55 percent rate it experienced in February. These numbers do not include international visitors, nor do they include all the usage on desktop and mobile clients, which is significant in Twitter's case.

Many news organizations are watching Twitter closely. Tomorrow, the New York Times will announce a new up-to-the-minute view of all its stories called Timeswire, linked to from the front page of the site. A press release for that product stated, "Think Twitter & Facebook redesign."

As for us at WebMediaBrands (the recently renamed Jupitermedia), we find Twitter very useful and can see why unique visitors are surging. Follow me on Twitter here, and my colleague Chris Nerney here.