Despite its notable popularity amongst older users, the number of youngsters accessing Twitter is growing at “breakneck pace”, according to new research. According to a new blog post from Andrew Lipsman, director of industry analysis at comScore, there are now 21 million Twitter users in the US, with a notable rise in new users under […]
Despite its notable popularity amongst older users, the number of youngsters accessing Twitter is growing at “breakneck pace”, according to new research. According to a new blog post from Andrew Lipsman, director of industry analysis at comScore, there are now 21 million Twitter users in the US, with a notable rise in new users under 18. “The most notable positive shifts are evident among the 12-17 and 18-24 year old segments, which are coming at the expense of the 35+ segments,” Lipsman said.
This follows recent research from Nielsen Online that just 16% of Twitter users are under 25, indicating the micro-blogging service lacks appeal to the younger generation.
However, these new figures indicate the service is begginging to gai traction amonst teens. Lipsman attributes some of this growth to celebrity endorsement from the like of Ashton Kutcher, who recently beat CNN to be the first Twitter account owner to get 1 million followers. Kutcher now has 3.4 million followers.
Lipsman wrote: “This event raised Twitter’s profile even further, which attracted more and more celebrities to the phenomenon, which, in turn, attracted even more young users, creating a virtuous cycle. Very quickly, younger users had gone from being the clear minority to challenging for the majority.”
Lipsman added that Teens are now “fueling (Twitter’s) continued growth and pushing it ever closer to achieving critical mass. If that happens, it will be the first example I can think of where the younger demographics were not the critical early adopters of a new Internet technology yet still played a vital role in its adoption curve. But it won’t be the last.”
Source: www.comScore.com
