Overview
This is the first-ever survey reading from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project that exclusively examines Twitter users. In previous surveys, the Project had asked internet users whether they “used Twitter or another service to share updates about yourself or to see updates about others?”
Eight percent of the American adults who use the internet are Twitter users. Some of the groups who are notable for their relatively high levels of Twitter use include:
- Young adults – Internet users ages 18-29 are significantly more likely to use Twitter than older adults.
- African-Americans and Latinos – Minority internet users are more than twice as likely to use Twitter as are white internet users.
- Urbanites – Urban residents are roughly twice as likely to use Twitter as rural dwellers.
Women and the college-educated are also slightly more likely than average to use the service. Read more...
About the Survey
This report contains data from several different sources. The data on overall Twitter usage and demographics comes from the Pew Internet Project’s November 2010 tracking survey, while the data on frequency of use and types of material posted by Twitter users comes from two Omnibus Surveys conducted in October 2010.
The two types of surveys, tracking and omnibus, collect data from nationally representative dual-frame (landline and cell phone) samples, employ the same respondent selection process, and identify internet users using identical questions. They are conducted by the same survey research firm, Princeton Survey Research Associates International, at the same field house. However, there are differences between the two types of surveys that should be noted when comparing data across them. You can read more in the Methodology section.