Portrait of a Tweeter
Does Twitter matter? Although still much smaller than Facebook, data from Compete shows that two in three users say that Twitter influences their purchasing decisions, and that more than one-quarter (28%) follow retailer Twitter feeds because they are ‘influential’. So, who are these Twitter users?
According to details from Pew Research only about 8% of online consumers considered themselves tweeters in November 2010; the increase to a 13% user-base in May 2011 is significant, then. But who is using the shortened social network?
African-American (25%) men (14%) between the ages of 18-49 (32%) are most likely to be found on Twitter. Hispanics and Caucasions make up about 28% of the user pool. As for income brackets, they are fairly equal. About 12% of lower income (those making less than $30,000/year) use Twitter, 15% of the $30,000-$49,999 and $75,000+ income brackets are tweeting.
“[The] number of 30-49 year olds who use the service has doubled since late 2010 — from 7% of such users in November to 14% in May 2011. This growth trend is especially pronounced among 25-34 year olds — Twitter use for this cohort roughly doubled between November 2010 and May 2011, from 9% to 19% — although growth in Twitter use among internet users ages 35-44 was notable as well (from 8% in late 2010 to 14% in spring 2011). By contrast, Twitter adoption over the same time period was stable among the youngest adults (those ages 18-24) who were the most likely to use the service in our first survey,” was written in the report.
Of those active on the micro-blogging site, more than half say they access their profile from a mobile device, making Twitter perhaps the most mobile-friendly of the social networks.
