Pew's latest survey shows Twitter is growing up, getting used more, and appealing to more older users. It's also a mobile affair for everyone half the time. With rumors Apple's about to integrate it, this could all become more significant.
It's the golden hour for Twitter and its little blue bird.
Thirteen percent of actual grownup Net users have used Twitter, according to new data from Pew Research--up from just 8% in November 2010. More than 60% more people have engaged with the microblog in just six months, in other words. Those Tweeps who own cell phones also love to use Twitter on the move--54% of these people have used Twitter via phone (by SMS or smartphone app).
Any service experiencing a 60% adoption rate growth in just half a year is one to watch, but Twitter's been a hot topic for several years already. So something, somewhere in the rich ecosystem of Twitter apps and its integration into more and more web systems has recently begun to change. The usage stats are still skewed slightly male with 14% of male netizens as users, versus 11% of online women, and black and Hispanic users standing out as keen Twitterers compared to white users (the survey concerned online American citizens, so it's worth pointing out that over 70% of global Twitterers are outside the U.S.).
But the biggest change is in the demographic for Twitter users: In November 2010 just 9% of online U.S. adults aged 25 to 34 had used Twitter, and 8% of 35 to 44 year-olds. These stats are now 19% and 14% respectively, meaning nearly one in five 25- to 34-year-olds have used Twitter. This is a significant change, and is possibly driven by Twitter's increasing value as a real-time news and information source.
Perfect timing then for the latest hot rumor about Twitter and Apple. We know Twitter's not for sale, and we know it has clever plans to monetize its system and to claw back control of its third-party app ecosystem, so it's a more controlled, centralized service. But this also could be part of Apple's plans to integrate Twitter sharing into iOS--perhaps sharing photos in the same way as it's currently possible to share video clips on YouTube directly from Apple's official imaging apps. That would be a potent move for Apple, attaching it to a fast-growing new social media system, and it could easily lead to even more rapid growth for Twitter itself.
DaringFireball's John Gruber (who's sometimes been close to the mark concerning Apple rumors) has hinted a much deeper system-wide integration could be on the cards for iOS5. This would radically change how interactive iOS is from a user point of view, and would deeply entwine Twitter into the genre-defining iPhone and iPad. Is this about as close as Twitter and Apple could get without the latter spending billions to buy the former? We'll find out on Monday.
COMMENTARY: I think it's a very smart move to integrate Twitter into Apple's iOS because its a great way for Apple to tap into Twitter's huge social network, now estimated at over 200 million users, of which 10% are regular users. It's a strategic move for both companies:
- Apple iPhone users can share photos and make iTunes music recommendations on Twitter
- Jobs and company have an opportunity to sell more Apple devices to Twitter users, and god forbid, convert them into Apple evangelists.
- Twitter iPhone owners will automatically be logged into Twitter without having to go through a login screen.
- Send a tweet instantly by using the universal tweet editing overlay that appears over whatever you’re viewing—eliminating the need to jump from app to app to tweet.
- Link Twitter to your Contacts list, allowing you to tweet your friends by simply typing their names.
- Instantly tweet links from Safari or your location from Maps, no copy and pasting required.
- Apple's partnership with Twitter is a defensive move against Facebook's intrusion into Apple's iTune streaming music business.
- Twitter has 14 million iPhone users logging into its site. This is a great opportunity for Twitter to increase its audience by converting iPhone users into Twitter users.
- Both share similar demographics, an abundance of users 25 to 44 years of age.
- An opportunity for Apple to test the waters for a future acquisition of Twitter.
As of September 2010, 8% of Twitter users had downloaded the Twitter for iPhone app. There were an estimated 175 million users at the end of September 2010, so using simple math this means that about 14 million iPhone users are using their phones to Tweet. This pales compared to the approximately 100 million iPhone users that have downloaded the Facebook for iPhone app.
According to Apple, 108 million iPhones have been sold through March 2011. The U.S. represents 66% or 71 million of total iPhone owners. A January 2010 survey taken by AdMob (see above) determined that 42% or 45.4 million iPhone owers (using March 2011) are between 25 and 44 years of age.
The dominant iPhone owner age group (25 to 44 years) matches up very well with the PEW Research study ending March 2011 which showed that 33% (19% - 25-34 yrs + 14% - 35-44 yrs) or 69.6 million of U.S. Internet users (211 million) between 25 and 44 yrs of age are using Twitter.
Although there are far more Facebook for iPhone (100 million) users than Twitter for iPhone (14 million) users, the Apple folk may believe that Facebook's U.S. growth has peaked at about 150 million users. Approximately 30% or 60 million out of a total of 200 million Twitter users are from the U.S., so there is definitely room for growth.
In a blog post dated May 26, 2011, I reported that Facebook is partnering with Spotify, the UK-based music streaming service, to integrate Spotify within Facebook. This would put Facebook in direct competition with Apple iTunes for a piece of the $6 billion music streaming space. Relationships between Facebook and Apple were good up until that point, and Apple finally realizes that Facebook presents a real threat to its music business and this is a good time for it to partner with a social network. Twitter fills that void quite nicely, because of its large U.S. and worldwide audience, and demographic compatibility with iPhone users.
Courtesy of an article dated June 1, 2011 appearing in Fast Company
It's so nice to have you do all of the research for us. It makes our decision making so much easier!! Thanks.
Posted by: Red Wing Black | 11/23/2011 at 01:20 AM
Apple built an entire ecosystem around Facebook called Ping. When Apple announced Facebook pulled the plug and left table in the pool that is. Integrating Twitter and Facebook will be great to see exactly what they missed.
Posted by: cowboom promo code | 08/25/2011 at 08:34 AM