According to the Silicon Alley Insider, kids used to hate Twitter, but don’t anymore.
Actually, Kids Don’t Hate Twitter Anymore!
“While Twitter’s user base historically favored older users, people between ages 12-24 have been Twitter’s fastest growing age group of late. And now that age group is actually disproportionately visiting Twitter, according to comScore.”
It might just be that it’s Monday morning, but I quite enjoy the futility of people’s attempts to make sense of how a user group they don’t understand use a technology whose purpose eludes them.
The introduction to the chart is based on an article in The New York Times, Who’s Driving Twitter’s Popularity? Not Teens:
“Kristen Nagy, an 18-year-old from Sparta, N.J., sends and receives 500 text messages a day. But she never uses Twitter, even though it publishes similar snippets of conversations and observations.
Her reluctance to use Twitter, a feeling shared by others in her age group, has not doomed the microblogging service. Just 11 percent of its users are aged 12 to 17, according to comScore. Instead, Twitter’s unparalleled explosion in popularity has been driven by a decidedly older group. That success has shattered a widely held belief that young people lead the way to popularizing innovations.”
I generally like The New York Times. But this article raises my eyebrows to well above my long-since-receded hairline.
Point 1: Despite the fact that Kristen Nagy, an 18-year-old from Sparta, N.J., never uses Twitter, the microblogging service is not doomed. Hmmm.
Point 2: Young people lead the way to popularising innovations. Hmmm.
Point 3: Twitter’s unparalleled explosion in popularity. Leading to what?
On April 23rd of this year, I offered a $100 Amazon gift voucher to the first person who could provide me with a good answer to one simple question:
How do I use Twitter for my business?
“My question: How do I use Twitter for my business? I’m not interested in abstract ideas and theories, so please don’t bother with things like “generating leads”, “finding people with similar interests” or “finding people interested in your services”. I need real, concrete ideas that I can actually use. And I need evidence that your ideas could actually work.”
Twitter Flu – Win a $100 Amazon gift voucher
Despite 15 comments, the reward went unclaimed, as no-one was able to provide me with a good answer to my question.
So I’m asking the same question again, this time offering an Amazon gift voucher for $250.
No theories, no catchy phrases, just a real, actionable and useful answer.
The first person to come up with a good response gets the voucher.
