While most news articles in the social networking space have been about the meteoric rise of Twitter, there have been some articles that suggest Twitter may have some serious issues. They are all based around the fact that kids aren’t using Twitter. Let’s look at some startling statistics on Twitter usage to see what people are talking about.

Interestingly, Twitter’s growth has been fueled by older people, not teens and college students. To me, this is a very interesting development and is in part what has called its sustainability into question. OK…I don’t want to be nihilistic, because in the end it doesn’t mean much. But in reality when you look at the growth of social media platforms, the large ones—MySpace and Facebook—saw their growth fueled by the opposite groups that are using Twitter.

Looking at the demographic information of Twitter on Comscore and Quantcast, you will notice that the majority—72%—are between the ages of 18 and 49. It’s important to note, though, that those numbers are skewed. The 18 to 24 age group only makes up 17.9% of Twitter users, and the 3 to 17 age group only makes up 10%. So 28% of Twitter users are between the ages of 3 and 24—and I would imagine 22 to 24 years of age would be a largest percentage of that.

We’ve established that the Twitter audience is going to skew older and that adoption rates are higher for 21 to 49 year olds. Does this mean Twitter has no shot at sustainability, since early adoption typically comes from a younger generation? Not at all—just the opposite, in fact. These statistics actually just show the difference between what particular age groups use and like. You see, while everyone is interested in connecting with friends, 12 to 18 year olds have a higher propensity of keeping in constant contact, hence the growth of Facebook. Twitter doesn’t give you the same social interaction…you’re not even friends, you’re followers. Believe it or not, that is exactly why Twitter is going to enjoy a happy, healthy life, at the very least evolving or combining with someone else.

You see, Twitter is great for people who are interested in keeping up to date on information, looking for answers, getting news or disseminating information. Notice the early adoption of businesses to Twitter? It has made it possible to get news instantaneously. It’s no wonder that Google likes Twitter as we move into a world of real-time information. In the end, Twitter has become a part of our news world and is around to stay, because it brings you instant news and information. There is nothing more powerful than that in an on-demand society.

back to homepage