As news organizations develop social media strategies, there’s some interesting news from the Pew Internet & American Life Project with the release of a new report on Twitter and similar sites. The report shows a significant increase in status-update services among younger and mobile Internet users. It also provides updated demographic information about who is using Twitter.
Three groups lead the growth of Twitter and status updates: younger Internet users, mobile users, and those who are already using social network Web sites. These groups are more likely to share and, since they are mobile, have the means to share. Twitter makes it easier.
About 19 percent of people who are online report using Twitter or a similar service to share updates about themselves or see updates about others. Less than a year ago, in December 2008, 11 percent of Internet users said they used Twitter.
The implications and opportunities for media companies seem clear. It is now even more important to find the right way to engage with this audience, which also tends to use Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn.
Most users want to stay in touch with other people, with 81 percent saying this is very important or somewhat important. Accessing information was second, with 73 percent saying this is very important or somewhat important.
While the survey didn’t directly address the issue of spreading news via Twitter, it seems there could be a correlation to the idea that some younger Internet users believe “news will find me.”
However, the same news doesn’t find everyone. The age of monolithic news, the one-to-many, is dying or dead. This is the age of many sources finding many different people via different channels.
The challenge for news organizations will be to create the right channels for the audiences they want to reach and then find ways to both aggregate and disaggregate these channels.
The Los Angeles Times does a good job with its various Twitter accounts, ranging from movies to Michael Jackson to the paper’s business section. A list of all of their Twitter accounts is available on the paper’s Web site, and the Twitter accounts can be followed individually.
As the Times does, news organizations might view Twitter like a multi-channel communication system, reaching different people through their networks and interests, rather than a single connection to users.
The Pew survey was conducted between August 18 and September 14, 2009, among a sample of 2,253 adults, 18 and older.
