Twitter and Status Updating: Demographics, Mobile Access and News Consumption

Twitter and Status Updating: Demographics, Mobile Access and News Consumption Amanda Lenhart Pew Internet Project AoIR 10.0 Milwaukee, WI October 8, 2009

Methodology
RDD tracking surveys of adults 18 and older
August 2009
November 19-December 20, 2008
November 20-December 4, 2008
April 8 – May 11, 2008
For results based on internet users margin of error is +/- 3 percentage points @ 95% confidence level.
Question wording changed from May to November.
May 08 wording: “Do you ever use Twitter or other microblogging service to share updates about yourself or see updates about others?”
Nov-Dec 08 wording: “Do you ever use Twitter or another service to share updates about yourself or to see the updates of others?”
October 2009

What is Twitter? October 2009

Twitter use
19% of American internet users used Twitter* in August 2009
11% of American internet users used Twitter or other service to share updates in April 2009
11% of American Internet users used Twitter or other service to share updates in December 2008
6% of American internet users used Twitter or other microblogging service to share updates in May 2008
* Note: In this presentation, “Twitter” is a shorthand for “use Twitter or update a status online”
October 2009

Demographics of Twitter users (Dec 08)
Younger adults
19% of online adults 18-24 have ever used Twitter or updated a status online
20% of 25-34 year-olds
10% of 35-44
5% of 45-54
4% of 55-64
2% of 65+
Lower income (youth)
17% of under $30,000
10% of $30-$74,999
10% of $75,000+
Racially/Ethnically diverse (9% of Whites, 15% of African-Americans, 16% Hispanics (English))
More likely to be urban than average.
Equally likely to be male or female (11% twitter in each group)
October 2009

Demographics of Twitter users (Aug 09)
Skewing younger
37% of 18-24
31% of 25-34
19% of 35-44
10% of 45-54
10% of 55-64
4% of 65+
No income differences
Still racially and ethnically diverse – 19% of whites, 26% of African-Americans, 18% Hispanics
Rural lagging – 20% urban, 16% suburban, 10% rural.
Starting to skew female? 17% of online men twitter, 21% of online women
October 2009

Twitter users use more mobile & social media
Wireless internet users more likely to use Twitter (14% vs. 6%)
SNS users – 23% have used Twitter vs. 4% of non-SNS users
Bloggers – 27% of bloggers Twitter vs. 10% of non-bloggers
Twitter users more likely to go online via their cell phone (40% vs. 24% of others)
Data from Dec 2008
October 2009

October 2009

Twitter & health (Dec 2008)
Twitter users more likely to look for health information online
More likely to be affected/caring for someone with a chronic condition than to have one themselves
October 2009

Last slide
Twitter users are generally intense and savvy users of online resources
Media & News
Information Resources (like Health Information)
Communication
Mobile
Younger Adults (and thus racially diverse as are American youth generally)…
… but not teens
October 2009

Thanks! Amanda Lenhart Pew Internet & American Life Project http://www.pewinternet.org [email_address] @amanda_lenhart

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Twitter and Status Updating: Demographics, Mobile Access and News Consumption

by Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project on Oct 21, 2009

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Twitter and Status Updating: Demographics, Mobile Access and News Consumption — Presentation Transcript