It’s hard to say which is the more interesting finding in the latest Pew report on what Americans are up to online: the fact that one in 10 online Americans say they use Twitter, Yammer or a similar status-update application… or the fact that adoption declines so sharply with age:
Twitter and similar services have been most avidly embraced by young adults. Nearly one in five (19%) online adults ages 18 and 24 have ever used Twitter and its ilk, as have 20% of online adults 25 to 34. Use of these services drops off steadily after age 35 with 10% of 35 to 44 year olds and 5% of 45 to 54 year olds using Twitter. The decline is even more stark among older internet users; 4% of 55-64 year olds and 2% of those 65 and older use Twitter.
Also noteworthy, but not surprising: by and large, Twitterers are also more likely to be social media creators, mobile users and sexy as hell (that last attribute is my inference from the previous two).
The larger point is that Twitter-like services may be crossing the chasm between being an early-adopter curiosity and becoming a widely-adopted tool… which means it’s worth exploring, especially if you want to engage a younger or more digitally connected crowd.
