From Pew's research we've learned that men waste more time on YouTube than women, and that earlier in the year 11% of online adults publish status updates.
In a remarkable new report, Pew is reporting that the 11% number has skyrocketed to 19% in less than a year, which means that now almost 1/5 of the entire online population publish or read status updates on sites like Twitter.
This data is especially poignant given Bing's announcement around integrating real-time tweets and Facebook status updates within search results. Clearly, a growing number of users are publishing content in real-time, which creates an even greater demand for the ability to search those same status updates, and right now Bing has the edge.
Pew's report attributes the accelerated growth in status updates to three key factors: mobile users (which makes sense given that mobile is taking over the world), existing social network users, and younger Internet users (under 44).
The accessibility of wireless internet via mobile devices is also influencing the quantity of existing internet users who adopt status updating. Pew found that mobile users are indeed more likely to tweet, and that those with multiple devices are even more likely to do so, with 39% of internet users with four or more devices using Twitter.
"As of September 2009, 54% of internet users have a wireless connection to the internet via a laptop, cell phone, game console, or other mobile device. Of those 25% use Twitter or another service, up from 14% of wireless users in December 2008.
Statistical analysis also shows that wireless access is an independent factor in predicting whether someone uses Twitter or another status update service. It is not simply because this group is likely to be young or tech-savvy. Owning and using a wireless internet device makes an internet user significantly more likely to tweet."
The Pew report also found that:
- Internet users who use social network sites are more likely to use Twitter or another status updating service, independent of other factors such as that group’s relative youth or propensity to go online via mobile devices.
- The more internet-connected devices someone owns, the more likely the person is to use a status updating service.
- 37% of internet users age 18 - 24 use Twitter or another service.
- The median age of a Twitter user is 31, which is 5 years older than the median age of MySpace user (26), but two years younger the median age for a Facebook member (33).
Charts from the Report
We've also included a few more graphs depicting data on internet users status updating and mobile behavior from the Pew report. Take a look and let us know what you think of their findings.
