4MR is sponsored by Carnegie-Knight News21, an alliance of 12 journalism schools in which top students tell complex stories in inventive ways. See tips for spurring innovation and digital learning at Learn.News21.com.
In this week’s 4MR podcast, I look at the recent survey results from Pew Internet on Americans’ use of Twitter. The research group found that 8% of American use Twitter, with 2% using it daily. That use is even more pronounced among Americans aged 18 to 29, and among blacks and Hispanics. I spoke to Pew Internet senior research specialist Aaron Smith about the survey results and how Twitter use compares to social networking use.
Check it out:
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Listen to my entire interview with Pew’s Aaron Smith:
Background music is “What the World Needs” by the The Ukelele Hipster Kings via PodSafe Music Network.
After our phone interview, I asked Smith why he thought minority use of Twitter was so high compared to whites. Here’s his response via email:
“There are a lot of factors possibly at play, but a big part of the story is that these groups are both younger as a whole than whites, and also more likely to access the web using a phone or other mobile device. Obviously Twitter was built with the mobile environment in mind, so to the extent that these groups are oriented around mobile access to information, they make a nice match with the service.”
Here are some links to related sites and stories for the podcast:
8% of online Americans use Twitter report at Pew Internet
Who’s Using Twitter? Some Surprising Answers at PC World
8% of Americans Use Twitter and More Stats You Need to See at Huffington Post
8 Percent of American Internet Users Go to Twitter, Report Says at NY Times Bits blog
Twitter use strongest among US minority groups – study at the BBC
There’s a whole Internet outside of Twitter, so don’t forget it at Zombie Journalism
5 Interesting Facts from Pew’s Twitter Study at The Atlantic
Here are some of the responses to our recent poll question what people think about WikiLeaks:
Also, be sure to vote in our poll about how you use Twitter:
Mark Glaser is executive editor of MediaShift and Idea Lab. He also writes the bi-weekly OPA Intelligence Report email newsletter for the Online Publishers Association. He lives in San Francisco with his son Julian. You can follow him on Twitter @mediatwit.
4MR is sponsored by Carnegie-Knight News21, an alliance of 12 journalism schools in which top students tell complex stories in inventive ways. See tips for spurring innovation and digital learning at Learn.News21.com.