Twitter growth slow among adults, but engagement has doubled

Albizu Garcia
Thu, 31 May 2012 21:13:51 +0000
Social Media, adults, demography, growth, mobile, pew research, statistics, Twitter, United States

Smartphone users are twice as likely to use Twitter

The percentage of online adults using Twitter is growing at a slow pace, although engagement among this demographic has doubled in 10 months, according to a recent Pew Research study.

As of February 2012 some 15% of online American adults use Twitter, up from 14% in May 2011. Growth among this demographic group is quite modest, although engagement has doubled in a similar period with 8% of these using Twitter on a daily basis. Compare this to just 2% daily active adult users in November 2010.

Several other interesting findings were revealed. Around 28% of black internet users use Twitter, with 13% of these doing so daily. The largest demographic of Twitter users are those aged between 18-24, where 31% are users of the service. This figure has risen sharply from 18% in May 2011. This is also the most engaged demographic with 20% of 18-24 year olds using Twitter on a typical day.

The study was able to make a direct correlation between mobility and Twitter usage. 20% of smartphone owners are Twitter users, while just 9% of those with feature phones use Twitter.

So all and all, Twitter is still mostly a platform for the young and mobile, for now.