More evidence of Twitter uptake among young people comes from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. According to a September 2009 survey, 33% of online adults ages 18 to 29 use a status update service, a significant difference from the research firm’s previous poll on the subject.
This meant young adults were more likely to tweet than users ages 30 to 49, who had previously been considered the core group for Twitter.
Overall, Pew found that 19% of online adults used Twitter or another status updating service. This is higher than eMarketer’s estimate of 11.1% of adult Internet users; however, eMarketer does not include the use of other status updating sites in that figure.
Status updaters were more likely to belong to other social networks in addition to Twitter, and users with multiple Internet-connected devices participated in services such as Twitter at a higher rate.
Several other researchers have found Twitter skewing younger in 2009. Sysomos reported that in May, 66% of users who disclosed their age were under 25, and another 15% were ages 25 to 29. And comScore Media Metrix found that 13.5% of Internet users ages 18 to 24 visited Twitter in July, up from just 0.3% a year earlier.
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Check out today’s other article, “Local to Take Lead on Online Ad Spend.”