It’s Twitter’s 6th birthday, and now that the popular microblog is emerging from its elementary years, we’re taking the opportunity to look at Twitter’s influence as an international network, maintaining the pulse of nations.

Trending on Twitter

What are people talking about on Twitter’s 6th birthday?  The lucky athlete to grace the next Madden cover, for starters.  Every year builds more curiosity around this tradition, which has turned into more of a curse.  One user tweets, “whose career shall we collectively decide to end this year??”

• #MaddenCoverVote
• #1DTOURNORTHAMERICA
• #hoezfavoriteline
• Etch a Sketch
• Lesean McCoy
• Trapped In The Closet
• Jeb Bush
• S Club 7
• Victor Cruz
• Happy Birthday Twitter

Users With The Most Popular Tweets For March

While trends are indicative of popular topics around the world, there’s always a handful of users that help drive these trends.  Some are celebrities, some are brands.  But they all have one thing in common: they command attention from the millions of users accessing Twitter every day.

• @illPosts
• @WizKhalllifa
• @AdamSchefter
• @justinbieber
• @OfficialNinel
• @mashable
• @wowitskidrauhl
• @GrandadJFreeman
• @funnyorfact
• @HumorORtruth

Top 10 Most Followed Celebrities

Twitter has proven a perfect platform for celebrities, and Twitter’s benefitted from Hollywood’s biggest stars supporting the microblog.

• Lady Gaga @ladygaga with 21126590 followers
• Justin Bieber @justinbieber with 18585536 followers
• Katy Perry @katyperry with 16240387 followers
• Rihanna @rihanna with 15121633 followers
• Shakira @shakira with 14948979 followers
• Britney Spears @britneyspears with 14283614 followers
• Kim Kardashian @KimKardashian with 14164671 followers
• Barack Obama @BarackObama with 13060366 followers
• Taylor Swift @taylorswift13 with 11749572 followers
• Selena Gomez @selenagomez with 10966815 followers

Top 10 Celebrity Twitter Accounts From The Grave

And it seems celebrities don’t stop tweeting, even after they die.  Maintaining an eerie presence from the grave are superstars including Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse and Jimmy Hendrix.

• Michael Jackson @michaeljackson
• Amy Winehouse @amywinehouse
• Bob Marley @bobmarley
• Tupac Shakur @2pac
• Elvis Presley @ElvisPresley
• Aaliyah @AaliyahHaughton
• Marilyn Monroe @MarilynMonroe
• George Harrison @GeorgeHarrison
• Humphrey Bogart @HumphreyBogart
• Jimi Hendrix @JimiHendrix

Top 5 Ways To Use Twitter For Business

As much as we love trending topics and deceased celebrities, Twitter’s a great platform for businesses as well.  Here’s some top ways to use Twitter for your business, large and small.

• Keep your ears open – use Twitter search to see if people are talking about your company and your competitors or what people are saying about your company.

• Have a personal touch for the company account – let people know that a real person handles your company’s Twitter account so they will be more interested in striking up a conversation with you.

• Keep self-promotion to a minimum – though the point of having a Twitter account is to promote your company, keep it to a minimum as people easily gets bored.  Try sharing links that are applicable to your business.

• Create excitement and enthusiasm by tweeting updates while at a company event or a company-sponsored event- keeping your followers updated to what’s happening at your event makes them feel connected and part of your company.

• Keep the conversation going when someone tweets you or sends you a direct message – don’t be a snob, if someone wants to talk to you on Twitter, make time for it.

Tweets That Got People In Trouble

As a public forum, a tweet on this widely used platform can also land you in hot water.  Here’s some tweets that have gotten people in trouble.

• Leigh Van Bryan was arrested earlier this year for tweeting “Free this week, for quick gossip/prep before I go and destroy America?”

• Liam Stacey tweeted “LOL [laugh out loud], **** Muamba. He’s dead.” about footballer Fabrice Muamba, but afterwards admitted he meant it in jest. 

• Daniel Knight Hayden was the first person ever arrested for tweeting  “START THE KILLING NOW! I am willing to be the FIRST DEATH!” and “After I am killed on the Capitol Steps, like a REAL man, the rest of you will REMEMBER ME!!!” 

• Paul Chambers got a criminal conviction for tweeting “Crap! Robin Hood airport is closed! You’ve got a week and a bit to get your shit together, otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky-high!”

• Hamza Kashgari, a 23-year-old Saudi newspaper columnist was arrested in Malaysia, where he was trying to flee after receiving death threats for tweets addressed to the Prophet Muhammad.