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"Twitter may hit a huge landmark on Wednesday \u2014 welcoming the 500 millionth user to the social network at approximately 3 p.m. EST.\nThe countdown is on for Twitter's user milestone. The projection of the figure comes from Twopcharts.com, a third party Twitter analysis company. New accounts registered per second is constantly above 13 on Wednesday, according to the official countdown board. \nThere are skeptics who challenge these figures.  Twopcharts has noticed fluctuations with the Twitter accounts it has been checking while keeping track of the countdown to 500 million. In a blog post, the company states that out of 100,000 accounts it has looked at, many have been suspended or closed. Others are inactive, still showing the default egg profile picture. It's disheartening to some that 53% of the sample the company is analyzing is inactive.\n\nSEE ALSO: Twitter App Updates Bring New Features for iPhone and Android Users\n\"Based on a sample of 100,000 accounts that were registered about three months ago, one has to be very cautious to draw any general conclusions,\" the blog post concluded. \"It is however likely that from the huge amount of new accounts that have been registered in the last year, the statistics will not differ greatly from what we found here.\"\nRegardless, Twopcharts is encouraging social networking enthusiasts to put on their party hats with a to-the-minute countdown on their website. A graphic also displays how many Twitter users have signed up in the past 24 hours. At 11 a.m. ET, more than 50,000-plus new tweeters were accounted for. \nWhat does Twitter have to say about these numbers? Twitter's official page lists stats as 100 million-plus active users. At New York's Guardian Activate Summit In April 2011, Twitter announced its user base in the 200 million-range worldwide. Katie Stanton, vice president of international strategy at Twitter, stated more than 70% of tweets comes from outside the U.S.\nMashable has reached out for Twitter to confirm the report.\nTwitter announced on Tuesday that iPhone and Android app users should be expecting some updates that will expediate finding friends, better copy-and-paste options and a \"Read Later Service.\" Perhaps these improvements will help push user sign-ups. \nLet us know in the comments if you will be celebrating with virtual fireworks or do you expect a big Fail Whale in terms of reaching 500 million users. \n\n\n\n10 Must-Follow Spoof Tech &amp; Social Media Twitter Accounts \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n1. Android PR\n\nWho knew that cute little green bot had a wicked streak? If you're a fan of the Android platform -- heck, even if you're not -- then follow this account for some Google-centric fun.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n2. Walt Mosspuppet\n\nWalt Mosspuppet, a puppet comedian and apparently \"the only technology journalist in the World,\" is well worth a look for a funny take on tech.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n3. Fake Stephen Elop\n\nNokia's CEO gets lampooned in fine old style here with a seriously sarcastic perspective on the Finnish phone company.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n4. Fake Carol Bartz\n\nThis account spoofs the director, president and chief executive officer of Yahoo by imagining the successful businesswoman as a foul-mouthed alcoholic.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n5. Fake Facebook PR\n\nIf ever a social network was ripe for a parody, it's got to be \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n6. Julian Ass\n\nWith a surname that starts with \"Ass,\" WikiLeak's Julian Assange hopefully has some thick skin. If not, well, he certainly has more pressing things to worry about.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n7. AT&amp;T Parody Relations\n\nThe underlying tone behind AT&amp;T's \"Parody Relations\" can be summed up by its bio -- \"Covering the USA, kind of...\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n8. Peter Molyneux 2\n\nThis fake version of British video game designer Peter Molyneux amps up his overly complex thoughts to their funniest extremes.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n9. Not Mark Zuckerberg\n\nPoor old Zuckerberg. All of that money and he still has to put up with people writing amusing tweets under his (almost) name. Yeah, we'd take that deal too.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n10. Google Brain\n\nImagine the immense power behind all Google properties is an evil, HAL-esque sentient machine. Funny, or too real?\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2012/02/22/twitters-500-million-user/>