One out of five Internet users now say they use Twitter or some other service to share status updates about themselves, or to keep tabs on others, according to
new data from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
- Associated Press
In a survey of more than 2,200 adults taken in September, 19% use some kind of status-update service, a sharp increase from the 11% who reported doing so in April.
The authors write that the uptick in status updates is strong among mobile-Internet users. About 54% of people surveyed had wireless Internet access via a laptop, cellphone or other device. Among that group, a quarter use Twitter or similar service, up from 14% in December. On the other hand, only 8% of users without wireless-Internet access tweeted, compared with 6% in December.
The more Internet-connected devices a user owns, the more likely he or she is to use Twitter — 39% of people with four or more devices posted status updates, compared with 28% of people with three devices, 19% of people with two devices, and 10% with only one device.
But age is an important factor as well. Internet users under the age of 44 are taking to Twitter and other status-updating services, according to the survey, with 33% of the 18- to 29-year-olds using Twitter, up from 19% in December.
In addition, social networking also predicts Twitter usage, with 35% of people who use sites like Facebook and MySpace also using Twitter, compared with only 6% of people who don’t use social-networking sites.
“It will probably become more difficult to track status updating as an independent activity as social-network updates feed into Twitter and vice versa,” the authors write. “For now, it is clear that a ’social segment’ of Internet users is flocking to both social-network sites and status-update services,” a group that will probably grow as more Internet users acquire mobile devices.
