A recent study reported on by the BBC found that about 40% of tweets are “pointless babble.” This is simply not true.
Is a “tweet” babble? Perhaps. According to Merriam-Webster “babble” could mean “to talk enthusiastically or excessively.” There may be some who tweet with both enthusiasm and excessiveness but their tweets are hardly pointless.
According to this study, as reported by the BBC, the “pointless babble” was anything that was not of value according to their set categories. There are plenty of studies that may be seen as “pointless babble” to those who tweet. The word “pointless” is a relative term.
A person who tweets about something that has no “pass-along value” may have tweeted about something with personal value. Thus, it is not a pointless tweet. The pointless “I like pizza” tweet is not necessarily pointless, if there is value for the person posting.
That person may feel more connected or validated because of a simple tweet.
Any communication, whether it’s a tweet, commercial, or phone call is potentially filled with pointless babble. The only factor that makes the communication relevant is its relevance to the person reading, watching or listening to it. Thus, if someone reads your tweet about the awesome sub sandwich you had for lunch and gets a smirk out of it or if you feel satisfaction when you post that tidbit of information: it’s not pointless, it’s fun.
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