Is Twitter really the domain of the young?

THere are some interesting stats being published from Neilsen online as regards the audience figures for Twitter. It has often been assumed that Twitter is a younger persons tool (by younger persons I am talking >30 however recent research would suggest a far more skewed profile.

The Neilsen Online research published today in the NMA suggests that the number of 50-64 year olds using Twitter actually outstrips that of its younger audience by 2:1, suggesting a more mature audience profile of Twitter users particularly compared against that of other social media platforms such as Bebo, MySpace and Facebook.

The breakdown of audience profile was as follows:

• 18 – 24 year olds: 11%
• 25 – 34 year olds: 22%
• 35 – 49 year olds: 33%
• 50 – 64 year olds: 22%
• Other                       : 12%

The share of the biggest audience segment, that of the35-49 year old audience – was down 5% on last years figures. Given the potential number of competitors within the younger audience sectors, one probably shouldn’t be suprised at the lack of traction within the 18-24 audience segment however it is still suprising given the uptake in other areas.

Whether this breakdown continues is open to debate, however by its very nature I would suggest Twitter is likely to continue to be skewed in favour of the older profiles for the short to medium term.

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