Earlier today I posted about some findings of Forrester Research regarding Twitter and marketing. Although the percentage of US online adults that post and read updates on Twitter is very modest, Forrester gives several reasons to tap this channel, although it’s small (in numbers).
One of the reasons: “Twitter users are influential and highly active in social applications.” This remembered me of other surveys I posted about a while ago, and I promised to look it up.
Well, here it is.
European research, by InSites Consulting, this fall looked at the profile of the Twitter users.
This is what I posted back then on another blog: “The typical Twitter user seems to be a male in his late twenties/early thirties, who is tech savvy and active in IT, media/advertising or the consulting business. This profile is strikingly comparable to the one of the early internet users. InSites Consulting also found that most people on Twitter are quite influential, in one way or another. They tend to be industry experts, journalists, bloggers, etc. To the question why people use Twitter the study answers that most people started using Twitter out of curiosity and the urge to stay connected with people and trends within their industry. They follow people who are able to make them curious, smile or wonder”.
Did you notice the influential part? Exactly what Forrester confirms.
What confuses me, however, is the discrepancy in the numbers between Forrester’s research (read my post here) and some data from Pew.
End October Pew Research Center found that some 19% of US internet users say they use Twitter or another service to share updates about themselves, or to see updates about others.
This was a significant increase over previous surveys in December 2008 and April 2009, when 11% of internet users said they use a status-update service.
I wonder what the percentage is that uses Twitter (so not those that only use ‘another service’) according to Pew.
What I do know is that the survey of Pew showed that the more devices someone owns, the more likely they are to use Twitter or another service to update their status. Fully, 39% of internet users with four or more internet-connected devices (such as a laptop, cell phone, game console, or Kindle) use Twitter, according to Pew.
So again that profile of the tech savvy (and influential?) Internet user.
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