Status Updates On The Rise
The number of Americans who use social networks to post status updates is on the rise, according to a new study.
About 19 percent of Internet users admit to using Twitter, Facebook, or another service to post updates about their lives and to read about others.
Previous surveys in December 2008 and April 2009 found that just 11 percent of Internet users used status update services, according to a report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
The report shows three groups of Internet users are responsible for the growth of status update activity: social network website users, those who connect to the Internet via mobile devices, and younger Internet users ““ those under age 44.
The study also found that Internet users with four or more Internet-enabled devices used Twitter, compared to 28 percent of users with three devices, 19 percent of users with two devices and just 10 percent of users with one device.
The median age for Twitter remains to be 31, which is unchanged from last year’s figures, according to the report. MySpace’s median age has dropped from 27 in May 2008 to 26. Facebook’s median age has risen from 26 in May 2008 to 33.
“For now, it is clear that a “social segment” of Internet users is flocking to both social network sites and status update services,” the report said.
“This segment is likely to grow as ever more Internet users adopt mobile devices as a primary means of going online.”
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