The number of US consumers who say they are aware of Twitter has surged to 87% in 2010, up from 26% a year earlier; but despite that near-ubiquitous awareness, just 7% of the population—approximately 17 million Americans—use Twitter, according to a survey from Edison Research and Arbitron.
By comparison, 88% of surveyed consumers age 12+ say they are aware of Facebook, and 41% maintain a profile page on Facebook, roughly six times more than those who use Twitter; however, active Twitter users—those who access the site at least once a month—are over three times as likely as other social network users to follow brands: 51% vs. 16%, Edison and Arbitron found.
Below, other findings from the study, Twitter Usage In America: 2010, derived from the Edison Research/Arbitron Internet and Multimedia Series.
Social networks have become mainstream for Americans: 48% of consumers age 12+ say they maintain a profile on a least one social networking site, compared with 34% a year earlier.
Some 42% of active Twitter users say they use Twitter to learn about products and services, and 41% say they contribute opinions about products and services.
One-third (33%) of those who use Twitter say they access the site at least once a day, while 15% visit less than once a month.
The Twitter Demographic
Active Twitter users are split nearly evenly between women (53%) and men (47%).
Other demographic-related findings:
- The largest active user group (33%) is adults age 24-34, followed by adults age 35-44 (19%), teens age 12-17 (18%), adults age 45-54 (12%), younger adults age 18-24 (11%), and those age 55+ (7%).
- 24% of active Twitter users are African-American, roughly twice the level of the African-American population (12%).
- 63% of active Twitter users have a four-year college degree, compared with the 40% of the general US population who do.
- 24% of active Twitter users live in households with annual incomes greater than $75,000.
Twitter Users More Active on Social Sites
Some 44% of active Twitter users say they visit social sites several times a day, compared with 30% of all social network users who do so.