Nielsen on Twitter: It's so five seconds ago

Nielsen on Twitter: It's so five seconds ago

Is Twitter over? (16 characters).

Probably not. Yet some new research from Nielsen isn't encouraging for the red-hot social networking site's future in which users post 140-character updates on ... well, anything.

The buzz is short-lived, Nielsen says. While Twitter's unique users more than doubled in March, on average 60% don't come back after a month of tweeting. MySpace and Facebook had retention rates that were twice as high at similar times in their existence.

For this tweeter (or twit since tweeter is just a little too close to tweaker for comfort), the site is awash in self-promotion. Journalists tout their most recent clips and, for some bizarre reason, their whereabouts (it's a great tip sheet for burglars, stalkers, not to mention competitors), while networks and studios promote their wares.

Is it effective? In generating ink and a lot of back-and-forth navel gazing the answer is yes. In tangible results, not so much.

Take NBC's "Chuck," which is on the bubble for a third season. Obsessed fans and a few publicists and TV reporters filled Twitter with tweets in an effort to raise the ratings for Monday's season finale. It didn't help, though, as "Chuck's" ratings were flat, leading one obsessed cheerleader to rationalize in a tweet that flat is the new up.

Of course, that's a rationalization the entire media industry is using these days and at some point so will Twitter.

-- Joe Flint

Photo: NBC

'Mad Men' Season 3 news roundup

A few bits of news about the much-anticipated third season of "Mad Men" have leaked out, so it's time to round them up:

According to a well-placed source, the show's third season begins filming on Monday in Los Angeles. According to the Twitter account of Rich Sommer, who plays Harry Crane on the show, he enjoyed the first script of the season. "I read the scriptfor the 1st [episode] of Season 3. You will not be disappointed. I left arambling [mesage] on my boss's [voice mail] about how good it is," he wrote today. (He also noted that his "Mad Men" haircut is "much less Hitlerian than last year. This does not make me sad.")AMC has only said that Season 3 would arrive in "summer" and there's no confirmation of this from anywhere in the "Mad Men" camp, but the third season of the show, according to the online rumor mill, will arrive on AMC in August. One bit of news that would seem to confirm the "Season 3 in August" rumor: The show's Season 2 DVDs hit stores July 14 (and it's normal for a the DVD of one season of TV to arrive about a few weeks to a month before the next season begins). TV Shows on DVD has the full details about the DVD release."Mad Men" is making its way around the world: Here is an interview with cast member Christina Hendricks from the Telegraph in the UK and here is an interview with Matthew Weiner from Israel's Haaretz. I found both those links via Basket of Kisses, the essential "Mad Men" fan site. In this March post, the Lipp sisters and their readers speculate about what year it might be when Don Draper and friends return. The art on this page is from the fabulous Dyna Moe, a freelance illustrator who creates much "Mad Men" visual joy. Have you heard/read any more "Mad Men" news bits? Feel free to share them in comments. Visit the Mad Men store on amazon.com

Montalvo Arts Center announces its summer schedule
Some acts slated to perform include Peter Frampton, Joan Baez, Jewel and Kenny G.
Anika Noni Rose: From Secretary To Princess

The co-star of the new HBO miniseries The No. 1 Ladies' Detectives Agency, earned a Tony for her work in the play Caroline, or Change and drew critical acclaim for her portrayal of "Maggie the Cat" in a recent Broadway revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Soon she'll be the voice of Disney's first black princess.

US-ISRAEL: Film Examines Paranoia Over Anti-Semitism
NEW YORK, Apr 29 (IPS)"I have never experienced anti-Semitism myself, but it’s a phrase that always seems to be in the air," begins Israeli filmmaker Yoav Shamir’s lively new documentary "Defamation". "Three words seem to appear over and over again: Holocaust, Nazi, anti-Semitism."