Twitter growth rate continues to slow

The news today that Microsoft chairman and co-founder Bill Gates had signed up for a Twitter account was akin to hearing an older, unhip person use an expression that has gone out of style with young people.
It’s like Gates had said “you go, dog” or “that’s for shizzle.” You just have to shake your head and feel sorry for him.
You see, Twitter was really hot last year. Millions signed up for accounts to give 140-character microblogging a try, especially after Oprah Winfrey and other celebrities tried it. But lots of people quit the service, failing to find utility in it or were frustrated by spam and service outages.

A study by Web analytics company HubSpot finds that Twitter’s growth rate in signing up new users has slowed dramatically since last fall. In its latest “State of the Twittersphere” report, released Tuesday, HubSpot says Twitter’s growth rate dropped to 3.5% in October compared to 13% just seven months earlier.
Meanwhile, traffic to Twitter has plateaued.
I find Twitter useful for news feeds and web link sharing. But I can see how others would be unimpressed.
As for Gates, he probably thinks Twitter is “off the hook.”