Recent findings of a Pew Internet study revealed, Twitter is being extensively used as a status update service to keep in touch. Youth (age 18 -44), social network users and users with access to mobile internet show early Twitter adoption symptoms.

The study – Twitter and status update, was conducted in September 2009, amongst a sample of 2,253 adults, 18 and older.

The key Highlights of the research indicates:

1. One in every five Internet users  are now on Twitter

19% of internet users say they use Twitter or another service to share updates about themselves, or to see updates about others (up from 11% in April).

Demographics of Tweeters

• Twittering was skewed towards youth
• No income based difference were observed
• Twitter saw a diverse racial and ethnic base
• Women also showed slightly higher inclination towards Tweeting than men

2. Social network website users also show higher Twitter adoption rates

The use of social network sites like Facebook, MySpace or LinkedIn had a huge influence on Twitter. Nearly 35% of other social network users say they have twittered as compared to 6% of internet users who do use any social network. This finding is independent of age or accessibility of internet via mobile devices. It also shows a strong correlation between status update and social network use. Recent stats presented by Facebook’s COO reveals there are now over 45 million status update per day from 30 million unique visitors on Facebook.  Twitter is estimated to yield about 25.9 million tweets per day (October 2009).

3. Those who connect to the internet via mobile devices are more likely to Tweet

54% Americans have a wireless connection to internet via laptop, cell phone, game console or other mobile devices as of September 2009. They study indicates the segment of users who have access to wireless internet connection show higher growth in Twitter usage than those who rely exclusively via tethered connection.

This finding also reinstates the trend identified in our previous article – early adopters study on the mobile web. The article suggested that Mobile Twitter would see a rise as more people used a mobile device to access the Web.

Pew internet study conducted in April 2009 revealed, mobile internet users extensively used their connection to stay in touch with other people and to share or post content online.

4. More Devices leads more active Twittering

The more internet connected devices someone owns, the more likely they are to use Twitter. The chart indicates that 39% of internet users with four or more internet-connected devices use Twitter, compared to 28% of internet users with three devices, 19% of internet users with two devices, and 10% of internet users with one device.

5. Younger internet users show rapid uptake of Twitter

Over the last nine months, the younger internet users age 18-44 report higher Twitter adoption rates as compared to internet users ages 45 and older. The median age of Twitter hovers around 31 while Facebook is showing signs of aging, the median for this social networking site is now 33, up from 26 in May 2008.

The future of Twitter

Twitter had successfully reached early adopters. Twitter users are those handle social relationship online, have wireless connection, and use many internet-connected devices.

We see the future growth of Twitter side by side with the constant growth of smart phones (currently 17% in the U.S.).  The Twitter updates behavior will be adopted by the mass not only when accessibility will be improved but also together with advanced location based services (LBS). We believe that location based opportunities will bring a new meaning to social updates and to effective day by day life management.