Hubspot has released its third annual look at how Twitter has been doing. The skinny after the jump.Among the findings, the service growth as a whole slowed a bit during the last six months of the year. Twitter users are also tweeting a lot more, and following a lot more other Twitter users than previously, a sign of the services maturation.

What might be of most interest to small businesses though, are stats on when most people are using Twitter:

HubSpot also has some excellent insight into when people are using Twitter. This is essential data to have a grasp on if you’re looking to build a Twitter marketing strategy. After all, getting your message heard above the chatter on Twitter is difficult on a good day…post it on a day or at a time when no one is paying attention and you’re entire campaign can come to a screeching halt.

The highest usage days for Twitter are Thursday and Friday. There’s a sharp drop-off over the weekend and a slow ramp up that begins building again on Monday.

Source: Search Engine Guide