Data released in July 2011 by Polaris Marketing Research examines the use of Twitter within the US, and showed that most people who access Twitter also use it actively. The micro-blogging service is over 5 years old, and eMarketer speculates that its “users may be settling down to more mature behaviors.” It’s up to marketers to target their efforts based on how users are now using the service.
So who’s tweeting? Highlights from the Polaris research:
- 18% of online Americans had sent a tweet in the past 60 days (yet eMarketer estimates that only 11% of online Americans access their Twitter account each month)
- 22% of web users said they had reviewed a tweet in the past two months
- 30% of 25- to 34-year-olds have sent a tweet, making them the age group most likely to do so
- 29% of 18- to 24-year-olds and 29% of Hispanics of all ages have sent a tweet
- 36% of those ages 18 to 24 have read a tweet, making this age group – the youngest respondents – the most likely to do so
- black and Hispanic internet users are more active on Twitter than whites
- respondents in the East were most likely to send tweets
- respondents in the South were most likely to read tweets
The most significant finding may be the small gap – just 4% – between those who’s reading tweets and those who are doing the tweeting. While these numbers include users who may have read or written just one tweet in the 60 day time period, it still shows a willingness of Twitter use to engage and not just consume content. Research has shown that most tweets come from a small, core group of users, but the data from Polaris indicates that many users are producing some content, even if they are not prolific tweeters.
According to eMarketer estimates, there are 20.6 million Twitter accounts in the US this year.
Polaris conducted online surveys with a representative sample of 1,000 American consumers during the week of July 18, 2011.
