October 22, 2009
One-fifth of Americans Use Twitter
According to the latest report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, approximately 19% of internet users now say they use Twitter or another service either to share updates about themselves, or to see updates about others. This represents a significant increase over previous surveys in December 2008 and April 2009, when 11% of internet users said they use a status-update service.
Three groups of internet users appeared to determine the growth of this activity: social network website users, those who connect to the internet via mobile devices, and younger internet users - those under age 44. It also reported that the more devices someone owns, the more likely they are to use Twitter or another service to update their status. Data shows that 39% of internet users with four or more internet-connected devices (such as a laptop, cell phone, game console, or Kindle) use Twitter, compared to 28% of internet users with three devices, 19% of internet users with two devices, and 10% of internet users with one device.
The median age of a Twitter user is 31, which has remained stable over the past year. The median age for MySpace is now 26, down from 27 in May 2008, and the median age for LinkedIn is now 39, down from 40. Facebook, however, is graying a bit: the median age for this social network site is now 33, up from 26 in May 2008.
Pew Report (pdf)