Tweens On Twitter

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  • + AlanWolk Alan Wolk 4 months ago
    @Carri - I did not mean to suggest that teens/tweens know they are a formidable block-- it’s marketers who know that. These kids have been marketed to their entire lives in ways that previous generations weren’t and they are very aware of how to avoid messages that appear inauthentic or pandering.

    As for devices, etc. - I’m curious about that as well. Most of them do not seem to be going to the actual Twitter site itself or using any sort of standalone app. They’re tweeting via these quiz and poll sites, which are on the web and accessed through the browser. The site then feeds Twitter.

    So it’s unclear whether the tweens then go to Twitter to see their tweets or if they just leave well enough alone. The fact that many are only following celebs on there seems to indicate they’re using it as a broadcast site to keep up with their ’faves’ but that may change. (Particularly if they figure out that on a smart phone, DMs work just like text messages, only they’re free!)
  • + CarriBugbee CarriBugbee 4 months ago
    Alan, you’ve got some great data and ideas there. I just wonder if tweens/teens actually 'know' they’re a formidable block to be marketed to. I doubt that’s on their radar screen.

    Also, I’m really curious about what devices tweens are using to generate Twitter traffic; i.e., what’s the percentage of mobile devices vs. computers? Either way, I could see traffic actually climbing during the school year. Every experienced tweeter knows that Twitter is an ideal time-waster and procrastination tool when you have work to do. I think it would be the same for kids with homework to do. :-)

    @CarriBugbee
    Social Profiles: http://bit.ly/CarriB
  • + RolandoPeralta Rolando Peralta 4 months ago
    Brilliant presentation and valuable data! Thanks a lot Alan for sharing your work, and thought with zephoria.
    I’m quite agree that we’ll continue witnessing a significant growth in Teenagers using Twitter, and I think it’s a natural behavior to think about their Twitter accounts as 'my celebrity channel'.
    Cheers,
  • + kburbary Ken Burbary 4 months ago
    Just finished reading the preso and your insightful discussion here Alan/Zephoria, and more people would be well served to do the same. The misinformation from the mashable piece is easy to digest and spread. Not until diving into the details (like Alan did with this preso and your blog post Zephoria) can you see the real behavior and trends. Despite being a parent of kids who aren’t quite teens, I can confirm they fit some of the above mentioned behaviors and patterns. Good stuff you two!
  • + BeanstalkIdeas BeanstalkIdeas 4 months ago
    Good discussion, and thoughtful rant backed by good research & good deductive reasoning and inferences. So rare these days. I think I liked it for that as much as for my interest in the subject.
  • + AlanWolk Alan Wolk 4 months ago
    First off, your “rant” on teens and social media is awesome and does a great job of debunking the Nielsen/Mashable debacle. But since the link you provided seems to be down, I wanted to provide an alternate so readers can find it: http://bit.ly/ZTtXK

    We’re definitely on the same page in regards to how the average age (and likely, the average socially acceptable age) of Miley Cyrus/Jonas Brothers/High School Musical fans is much higher overseas. Particularly with Brazilian teens: according the Alexa, the majority of traffic to the LolQuiz site, the largest of the poll/quiz sites, is from Brazil.

    Good call on the Gossip Girl/Twilight crowds too: those are definitely older girls and two very different crowds. I can definitely see your point about Twitter taking off among teens/tweens, especially as a way to share thoughts around a broader target, be it the Disney Channel games, the premier of this season’s Gossip Girl or, if boys start getting into it, the Super Bowl or even local high school sporting events. Twitter provides a unique forum and real-time broadcast capability that other social networking platforms do not.

    And then there’s the whole “on the internet, no one knows you’re a dog” thing: tweens can participate in a range of conversations without having to broadcast “I’m only 12.”

    Very true too, re: parental permission to use Twitter. Though since it’s free, I can see upper middle class kids jumping on without bothering to ask: these kids generally have their own computers in their own rooms, and coupled with an iPhone app, it makes Twitter an easy thing to hide. And I say that because anecdotally, I’m seeing kids as young as 4th or 5th grade putting up Facebook accounts that their parents may or may not know about.
  • + zephoria zephoria 4 months ago
    I wouldn’t go so far as to say that those who are into Disney stars are outcasts, although they aren’t necessarily the uber cool in the States. But interestingly, those markers don’t seem to apply outside of the US which is why you get the crazy onslaught of Jonas Bros fandom in Brazil looking mega different than in the States. Older, more soap style than starlet style.

    It’s interesting to see some of the camps that are hitting Twitter from teen culture. Right now, Twilight fans are a camp w/ those into Team Jacob vs. Team Edward being very different than those into the Jonas Bros. Then there’s those into Gossip Girl star (which, as a show, is more popular with Sex in the City fans than teens). And of course there’s the geeks which will have none of this. Those who are more into indie rock bands or hip hop stars (trends older) are only really starting to get their feet wet.

    You’re totally right that the iPhone is playing a big role this summer, but that won’t stop when the school year starts. Nor will polls or quizzes. In fact it’ll get far more intense when it can be integrated into the ’water cooler’ element of seeing each other and discussing what was on Twitter last night. As for teens/tweens being bored over the summer, of course. That’s common. But boredom alone isn’t the driving factor. So much of what they’re doing is fundamentally social that even micro-boredom (of the doing homework kind) will spare plenty of room for 140 characters. Right now, I’m reading 2 hours of teen tweeting a day, sampling in all sorts of different ways to find different types of teens using the site. I’m seeing a huge upswing of Indonesian and Brazilian teens. (They’ve been historically early adopters of social media... Friendster and Fotolog being core examples.) I’m also seeing Australian teens and teens from different countries in Europe. Best I can work out, it’s basically the teens who never got into Facebook.

    If you want a good rant on what I’m seeing: http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2009/08/06/teen... (And btw, I think that there would be a LOT more tweens on Twitter because of the starlets if only their parents would let them.)
  • + AlanWolk Alan Wolk 4 months ago
    @Zephoria: I am a huge fan of your work and am flattered that you have commented here. Two thoughts:

    1) The teens who are into Disney stars are to some degree outcasts. They’re the same type of teens who were into David Cassidy or New Kids on the Block when we were in high school. The age range for ’tweens’ also seems to keep slipping lower and lower: my kindgergarten age daughter and her friends are very into Hannah Montana and iCarly (they may not totally get the shows, but they’re aware of them and wear the merchandise) That may be an influence from older siblings, but if kindergartners are into them, then teens who are serious fans of those same acts may seem even more awkward.

    2) I’m of two minds with the upper middle class tweens: on the one hand, the people fueling the quizzes and polls seemed to be coming from a more blue collar demographic: lots of reporting of being ’bored’ over the summer without a whole lot to do- as you note. upper middle class tweens tend to be in some sort of structured summer program and not as likely to be using any sort of social media. So the whole poll/quiz thing may just pass them by along with Twitter.

    The outlier is the $99 iPhone, which, along with the iTouch + home WiFi, are giving these upper middle class kids access to Twitter. It won’t take long for them to realize that Direct Messaging is cheaper than texting, just as immediate and equally as private. And it may just seem a lot cooler than texting.

    Curious too as to why you think much of the teen/tween Twitter usage will come from outside the US?

    Thanks again for your comments here- can’t tell you how many times I’ve referred to your study on class differences between Facebook and MySpace users- and your insights are always welcome.
  • + zephoria zephoria 4 months ago
    Two thoughts:

    1) It’s not just the tweens who are into the Disney starlets. The tweens are into the character they represent; the teens want to be the celebs themselves. They follow for different reasons and with different expectations. (And then there’s the sexual fantasies w/ same-age celebs... but let’s not go there.)

    2) I disagree with your assessment re: the school year. In all youth-oriented social media, summer is a downtime for traffic. Many middle-upper class American youth are in very scheduled, structured activities during the summer. In the school year, after school and activities, they return home for 'homework' where they sit in front of the computer and multitask. I actually think we’ll see an increase in teen usage this fall, although I expect the majority of it to come from outside of the States.
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Tweens On Twitter - Presentation Transcript

  1. Tweens & Twitter
    Or Why Are Miley Cyrus and The Jonas Brothers Common Trending Terms?
  2. A recent Nielsen Study “proved” that teens andtweens were not on Twitter
    The many possibilities as to why they were not on Twitter was heatedly debated on Mashable and other sites
  3. But Disney Channel stars are all over Twitter
    The Disney Channel caters to tweens (kids 6-12) and is the top rated channel in that demographic (Source: Nielsen Media Research, April 09)
  4. (Older teens are too cool for Disney Channel)
    Once US teens hit their teen years, they consider Disney Channel somewhat juvenile (Source: UrbanDictinary.com)
  5. And Disney Channel stars often appear in Twitter’s Trending Terms
    Disney Channel stars like the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus often show up in the top trending terms on Twitter
  6. Some have over 1,000,000 followers
    Popular Disney Channel stars have over one million followers: a curious number for a channel whose audience likely needs parental permission to use the computer
  7. Even minor stars, like MitchelMusso have hundreds of thousands of followers
    Musso plays Oliver, one of Cyrus’ sidekicks on Hannah Montana
    Gomez stars on breaking Disney Channel show The Wizards of Waverly Place
  8. A Tale of Two Demis
    Even DemiLovato, an up and coming Disney Channel star (Camp Rock, Sonny With A Chance) is only a million followers short of Twitter powerhouse, Demi Moore
  9. So who is following them?
  10. Many are actual tweens
    Many tween girls (and they are almost all girls) on Twitter use the service to follow celebrities and rarely, if ever tweet.
    It appears that Twitter serves as a broadcast medium for them.
  11. Some more tweenTwitterers
    As noted, they rarely tweet and may not actually be using the service
  12. They follow the usual list of tween-oriented pop stars,
    Many of these stars appear on Disney Channel shows
  13. A New Development: Polls & Quizzes
  14. A lot of the traffic for Miley Cyrus seems to be coming from three popular Twitter-based quiz sites
    PollPigeon, LOLQuizand Fun 140 are popular quiz and poll sites that require users to enter their Twitter names so the sites can tweet their answers, thus building awareness for the site.
  15. Alexa rankings indicate three sites are very popular
    LOLQuiz is the most popular of the three (as well as the oldest)
  16. PollPigeon & Fun140 are US-centric, LolQuiz has a larger Brazilian fan base
    But LOLQuiz does have a sizable US user base that appears to be growing
  17. Traffic for all three sites picked up almost immediately upon launch
    LOLQuiz was first out of the gate in June 2009 (source: Alexa rankings)
  18. Reach is up for all three sites
    (source: Alexa rankings)
  19. PollPigeon recently saw a huge spike in daily pageviews
    Though that number seems to be leveling off (source: Alexa rankings)
  20. What do these sites offer?
  21. PollPigeon features quizzes about tween pop stars
    The quizzes are user-created so it’s likely that tweens are also creating them
  22. A look at PollPigeon’s top quizzes shows they are clearly aimed at a tween audience
    Shows like the Teen Choice Award skew towards tweens and younger teens.
  23. Fun140’s polls are slightly more diverse, but also skew towards teen girls
    The home screen shows the Twitter names of people who have just finished taking a quiz and as the site is quite popular, the list is in constant movement
  24. LOLQuiz quizzes also center around tween stars
    LOLQuiz was the first quiz and poll site out of the gate and has a broader range of topics
  25. Most of the search results for “Miley Cyrus” and “DemiLovato” are coming from polls and quizzes
    The results are coming fast and furious as you can see from the number of new results in the few second it took for me to take a screen shot via Skitch
  26. So Who’s Taking These Quizzes?
  27. Tweens, mostly
    This user is typical: she joined Twitter over the summer, issued a few tweets, and then found the poll & quiz sites. The last 153 of her 161 tweets are from the poll & quiz sites. Many users display this pattern.
  28. This user has 61 of her 63 tweets coming from poll/quiz sites
    All of the quizzes and polls she participates in are on topics and celebrities of interest to tweens.
  29. A quick glance at some of the non-poll/quiz tweets reveals standard teen/tween concerns
    School’s impending arrival, summer boredom, and parents are all topic that crop up frequently
  30. A few users do fall into the older teen demographic
    This user, an 18 year old girl who is obsessed with Miley Cyrus is fairly typical of a certain segment of many a teen star’s fan base.
  31. Non-US fans, Brazilians in particular, make up another part of the fan base
    Due to cultural differences, stars that attract a younger, tween audience in the US may still be palatable to overseas teenagers
  32. Conclusions
  33. Tweens are definitely using Twitter
    Their single-mindedness makes them a formidable bloc
  34. Tween stars attract hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of followers who are on Twitter to interact with a small group of celebrities
  35. This single-mindedness makes it easy for tweens to affect the Trending Topics list
    Especially with three popular poll and quiz sites to spur things on
  36. Fast Company’s profile of LOLQuiz founder Zohrob touches on this
  37. Zohrob acknowledges that it is tweens doing the tweeting
  38. But tweens are fickle
  39. While Oprah and Ashton Kutscher may have brought the tweens to Twitter, the quizzes and polls are what have kept them there.
  40. There are only so many quizzes anyone can take before boredom sets in.
  41. Tweens have a lot of downtime during the summer that disappears come September when school starts up
  42. On the other hand, it’s now a habit
  43. Tweens know that their single-mindedness makes them a powerful block
  44. They see Twitter as a place to discuss pop culture events from their world, like the Teen Choice Awards
  45. A shared affinity for a particular pop star is a topic people feel comfortable discussing with total strangers
  46. Marketers have noticed too
    Zach Efron is using Tweens on Twitter to promote his new movie “17 Again”
  47. Predictions
  48. The popularity of the poll and quiz sites will wane as the school year starts, and their ability to affect Trending Topics will lessen
  49. Tweens will return to Twitter to discuss tween-oriented events, Disney Channel and Nickelodeon events in particular
    The chatter around these events will come and go quickly, with only die-hard fans sticking around more than a day or two
  50. Overseas fans will continue to discover the poll and quiz sites and keep them going
    They will add their own home-grown teen pop stars to the mix
  51. Marketers will try and harness the Twitter power of tweens with promotions and events around popular celebrities and/or tween-oriented products
  52. Social media and tech types will continue to be baffled by the appearance of the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus amidst the stream of political crises and Apple product introductions
  53. Thank you
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