Twitter Trends Younger

The Pew Internet and American Life Project asserted in a recent study that Twitter has younger users than the rest of the internet. In fact, 40% of Twitter users are under the age of 18 and 59% are under 24.

This is especially big news when we consider that Facebook is trending older. It is obviously important for markets and public relations professionals to know which demographics are populating which social media platforms, but it is also important for the users. If a 16-year-old is deciding whether to sign up for Facebook or Twitter, knowledge of these statistics might factor into his/her decision.

Pew also found:

"The use of Twitter is highly intertwined with the use of other social media; both blogging and social network use increase the likelihood than an individual also uses Twitter. Twitter users and status updaters are also a mobile bunch; as a group they are much more likely to be using wireless technologies -- laptops, handhelds and cell phones -- for internet access, or cell phones for text messaging. "

This is a fact that can't be ingnored. Many Twitter users have cross-polinated themselves across the social media landscape. Twitter is a great community to be a part of if it fits your goals, but you can still interact with many Twitter users on various other platforms.

Though Twitter is popular, it certainly isn't the end-all-be-all of social media.