Why Do You Tweet?
eMarketer reports that, according to the "Consumer Internet Barometer," the majority of Twitter users (42%) use the service to communicate with their friends. About 29% use Twitter to update their status, 26% to find news, and 21% for work-related reasons. Oddly, only 0.3% said that they use Twitter for fun. Significantly more women use Twitter to keep in touch with friends than men (48.4% vs. 33.6%). Besides this, though, there is little difference between how men and women use the service. About half of the survey respondents were introduced to the service by a friend or family member, and a third heard about Twitter from a co-worker.
Why People Use Twitter
When it comes to different age groups on the service, there are a number of clear differences. Users under 35 are more likely to use Twitter to keep in touch with their friends (43.8% vs. 39% for those over 35). These younger users are also significantly more likely to use Twitter to update their status (38% vs. 19%).
Interestingly, though, users over 35 are far more likely to use Twitter for work-related reasons (29%), and the older the user, the more likely they are to use Twitter for research. 16.2% of those over 55 report that they use Twitter for research purposes, while only 7% of respondents under 35 say that they use Twitter in this fashion.
These numbers clearly show that users under 35 are far more comfortable with the idea of publicly broadcasting their status, while older users tend to have a slightly more utilitarian approach to the service.
Who Do They Talk To?
When it comes to who people talk to on Twitter, women are significantly more likely to use the service to talk to their friends and family members. Almost 30% of all respondents also use the service to interact with celebrities - which is clearly a driving force in the mainstream adoption of the service. About 24% use it to talk to bloggers (you can find RWW here), 13% use it to talk to their employers and co-workers, and 11% use the service to interact with brands.
Why Do You Use Twitter and Who Do You Talk To?
Do you use Twitter more to keep in touch with friends and family, or to do research? And when you use it to talk to other users, who do you talk to? You can find our own poll just below this post (note: you can check more than one answer).
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Twiiter is easier to navigate too. I was referred to PLURK by someone and its too confusing for lil ole me. I just like to communicate things like this throughout the day. http://tinyurl.com/llwfxs
I mostly use twitter to Update my status and Find News. However i'm finding it more useful these days to do more stuff!
i´d really like to see those "work related" entries broken down more, as in "listening", "disseminating info" etc. Besides, isn´t there a good dose of overlap with "work related" and "for research" ?
Posted by: paul.murciamarketing.com
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July 30, 2009 11:24 AM
What are the methods for gathering this data? This is a seriously hot topic, but I've read different reports on the breakdown of reasons for using Twitter. And I get nervous when I see a vote box on the RWW page — hoping that's not where eMarketer gets their data or we'd definitely see skewed results.
Posted by: brynnevans.com
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July 30, 2009 11:27 AM
I find Twitter usefull for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that almost every day I learn something new.
By using a WordPress plug-ins I can post my tweets to my Blog.
It is a easy, quick and fun way to contact friends,associates, follow like-minded people, etc
when bing starts indexing tweets, i wonder if this will litter their search results with senseless twitter talk and spam...
I have a few friends that I follow/follow me, but I use it for information sharing and finding new industry contacts. On occasion I get caught up and follow some hashtags that aren't necessarily "news" - opinions/spoilers on tv shows, memes, humor... gee, I guess I use Twitter for... entertainment!
I love Twitter! So far it is the most effective networking tool for my businesses. I find facebook confusing and just plain hard to use. LinkedIn is my second successful networking tool.
Twitter is just easy and very effective.
For me Twitter is fun for lots of things. But mostly I use it for networking and keeping up with tech news. It's not about getting loads of followers but quality conversation and links, and connecting with folks.
Just noticed this myself. And the Gmail enhancements keep coming!
Twitter is a great tool. I'm learning to use it to get more traffic to my websites.
Twitter IS about updating your status. I find it a bit redundant to list it as an option.
It's interesting to compare the use cases of Twitter and Facebook particularly in the under 35 demographic. See http://expostfacto.tumblr.com/post/152730049/comparing-twitter-and-facebook-usage for an analysis.
Twitter is a maketing tool, where everybody is selling something!
I was surprised only 21% of Twitter users was for business related, I mainly use it to research trending topics but more so connect with marketers and other social media enthusiasts.
twitter.com/brettkopf
A more accurate result would have been delivered if you guys have asked the approximated percentage of the use of each use of twitter. That 'cause I'm sure everyone uses twitter mostly to Keep in touch with friends/family - Update your status -
Find news/stay updated - Work-related AND For research
Isn't it? ;) Nice work!
This study is assinine. It tells me nothing. The response options they've delineated don't even belong in the same conceptual category (and given that they're not mutually exclusive, it seems shocking that certain percentage values don't correspond better to others). For example, that one uses Twitter to "update his status" doesn't tell me WHY he uses Twitter on any meaningful level (but if I wanted to use "update your status" as a response option, the other options would relate to notions surrounding one's level of participation / engagement). Maybe I use Twitter for "work-related" activities, in which case it's highly probable that I also "update my status." Shockingly, only 0-1% of Twitter users (across genders) use Twitter "for fun"; but, oddly, 34-48% use it to "keep in touch with friends" ... which is never fun. When survey designers overlap response options, it confounds the findings-- it just seems that, being more specific, "keeping in touch with friends" precluded the selection of "for fun" as well. Sad that you...
I think Twitter is more on micro bragging! HAHA
Here's a video of a bunch of people saying why they tweet. From SXSW partying to promoting hockey podcasts, it's fun and interesting, but not really surprising :)
http://socialnerdia.com/index.php/2009/06/videowhyiyouwetweet/