Twitter is a pretty pervasive tool among those in the tech community, but how many average Internet users have jumped on the Twitter bandwagon? A Thursday study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 8 percent of American adults on the Web use the micro-blogging service.
The study found that of the 2,550 people surveyed, 74 percent use the Internet, meaning that 6 percent of this country's adult population uses Twitter. About 2 percent of those people use it on a daily basis.
This marks the first time that Pew has focused solely on Twitter use. In past studies, the organization has only asked people if they use "Twitter or another service" to share updates about themselves. But as the number of people who answered "yes" to that question grew – 6 percent in August 2008 to 24 percent in September 2010 – Pew thought it was time to break out Twitter numbers on their own.
Pew found that Twitter is particularly popular among young adults, minorities, and those who live in cities. Women and the college-educated were also slightly more likely to use Twitter, the study said.
Specifically, 10 percent of Twitters users were women, compared to 7 percent of men. The majority – or 14 percent – was in the 18 to 29 age bracket, followed by 7 percent of those ages 30 to 49. Broken down by race, 18 percent were Hispanic, 13 percent were black, and 5 percent were white. Most had a college degree or some college (18 percent), while many lived in urban (11 percent) or suburban (8 percent) areas.
Pew acknowledged that its sample size of Twitter users – 102 people – is relatively small, but the organization said it believes the findings "provide a useful portrait of how Twitter users engage with the service."
As a result, Pew asked Twitter users to break down how and when they use the service.
About 24 percent of respondents said they check Twitter for updates several times a day while 12 percent check it once a day. Another 21 percent, however, said they never check it. Among those who post updates, 72 percent post about their personal lives, with 19 percent doing so on a daily basis. About 62 percent write about work (12 percent daily) and 55 percent post links to news stories (12 percent daily). Fifty-four percent post humorous or observational tweets (16 percent daily) and 53 percent re-tweet posts from those they follow (18 percent daily).
Another 52 percent send direct messages, 40 percent share photos, 28 percent share videos, and 24 percent tweet their locations.
In September, Twitter co-founder Evan Williams said that, aided by a growth in mobile app usage, Twitter topped 145 million users, up from 105 million in April.