Next week, I have the opportunity to give a couple of presentations at the Upper Midwest CVB Conference on Twitter and social networking in general.  In preparing for the presentation, I am coming across some great stats. While several jumped out at me, a couple of them leaped - most notably, the fact that 72.5% of all Twitter users joined during the first five months of 2009 (Sysomos, June 2009).  While it's clear that the Twitter boom shows no immediate signs of letting up, I've been seeing more and more heavy Twitter users start to throttle back their use.  Their posting frequency decreases, their participation in dialogue with other users declines, and their initial zeal for Twitter starts to wane.  These aren't Twitter newbies, either.  These are early adopters who have been on on the Twitter bandwagon from the start but who are now beginning to feel bored and, in some cases, overwhelmed with the increasingly crowded Twitterverse in comparison to the peaceful and sparsely populated Twitter of old.

I'm certainly not saying that Twitter is on the decline because that is clearly not the case.  However, I can't help but sense a certain level of apathy setting in with veteran Tweeps - myself included - as they wonder where the social journey will take them next. While the concept of social networking is here to stay, like sands through the hourglass so are the vehicles of the social networking space. I'm anxious to see where the journey leads next. I bet MySpace is too.