Tweeting ain’t for Teens
In direct contrast to every other social media explosion, it is adults rather than teenagers that are fueling the growth of Twitter.
According to research from Nielsen NetRatings out last week, adults use Twitter twice as much as teenagers do. Just 16% of Twitter users are under 24; a measly 6.6% of teens have a Twitter account.
When you take into account the fact that the under 25s make up a quarter of the active Internet audience, this means Twitter under-indexes in the youth market by as much as 36%.
So whilst Twitter use has exploded in the last 6 months – now being used by around 10% of all Internet users – this growth is despite low adoption rates by younger people.
It seems like its always young people who adopt new a Internet phenomenon, to be followed by the older generation: Facebook followed exactly this model. Some have questioned what it is about Twitter that hasn’t captured young people’s imagination.
“Does it really matter if the kids don’t get it? The fact remains that Twitter has grown to be a major online presence and is being driven forward by significant buzz” said David Martin, VP for primary research at Neilsen.
Such is the level of buzz – as measured by the frequency of mentions on blogs, forums and message boards – that Twitter’s profile is now as great as that of Facebook, despite being just a quarter of the size. This buzz is refueled with every general news ‘event’ such as the Iran election. As to whether this buzz will translate too long term users, only time will tell.
Martin said: “All it takes is one celebrity or major news story to rekindle the Twitter buzz machine, but do these one-off shifts create one-time curiosity seekers or lead to more permanent users? That’s the unanswered question.”
We’ve certainly picked up here that many Twitter users leave after less than a month.
Maybe all its going to take is a major news story that affects younger people for the Twitter to take hold amoungst the young. Or more likely, faster adoption will be driven by Twitter use by celebrities with a young fan base. It certainly seems like the high profile Twitter users come from a more mature audience – such as Al Gore, Barack Obama, Stephen Fry.
Is Twitter just for older people? If you’re a teenager, have you tried Tweeting? Leave us a comment below.