Twitter may be valued at billions of dollars, but only 8 percent of Americans online are using it, according to a recent report from thee Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project.
Some of the other findings in the report may surprise you.
Groups who are notable for their relatively high levels of Twitter use include:
- Young adults – Internet users ages 18-29 are significantly more likely to use Twitter than older adults.
- African-Americans and Latinos – Minority internet users are more than twice as likely to use Twitter as are white internet users.
- Urbanites – Urban residents are roughly twice as likely to use Twitter as rural dwellers.
Twitter launched on July 15, 2006 and now claims tens of millions of users worldwide. It is one of the most popular online activities among tech enthusiasts and has become a widely used tool among analysts to study the conversations and interests of users, buzz about news, products or services, and announcements by commercial, non-profit, and government organizations.
Pew notes that it is an important component of the analytical work by our colleagues at the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism in its New Media Index, which assesses the most prominent topics discussed in social media every week.
Women and the college-educated are also slightly more likely than average to use the service.
We would add that social marketers, journalists, entertainment personalities, and a majority of the web publications we visit are also prominent users of Twitter.
But, at least for now, it clearly does not have the same appeal as Facebook for many general Internet users.
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Tags: Pew Internet & American Life Project, Twitter use report
