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Not only that, but I have this sneaky suspicion that even though many users drop off in the first month, many of those same users end up coming back later.

Most of the people I know who joined Twitter followed this pattern:

1) create an account, "give Twitter a try"

2) Forget about it for a couple of months

3) Get back to it under renewed pressure, start using it properly, and stay

So the 1-month retention rate may well be irrelevant. What's the 3-6 months retention rate?

why do you think this? how many people do you know who did this (hooked on second or greater try) versus never got hooked?

I know about half a dozen people who have done that. Some of them seemed like hopeless cases, but they still turned it around.

I did the same thing. So now you know one more! :)

Adding to the anecdote: This is how I became a Twitter user.

It's probably testable -- in fact, it sounds like an opportunity to pick up the Twitter API, which I've been meaning to do for some time now.

Unless 30% drop out during the second month.

It sounds like an especially sick high conversion rate when your feeders are CNN and the television network news.