51% of Twitter Users Follow Brands, vs. Only 16% of All Social Network Users

Edison Research has released a report, “Twitter Usage in America: 2010,” based on a telephone survey (via landline and mobile phone) of 1,753 Americans was conducted in February 2010.  eMarketer has added some additional analysis to highlight some key findings:

  • Twitter users were significantly more likely than members of other social networks to friend or follow brands.  51% of active U.S. Twitter users follow companies, brands or products on social networks, compared to only 16% for users of social networks in general.
  • Twitter is a great tool for multicultural marketers:  African-Americans make up 24% of the US Twitter population, twice their share of the total population of the country.  Hispanics were also overrepresented on Twitter, at 17% versus 13.4% of the US Internet population.

Edison Research report.

eMarketer article.