Twitter and the Oprah Effect

By Casey Lynn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

According to the latest Pew Internet survey, one in five of you want to tell everyone what you’re up to in 140 characters or less. More specifically, 19% of Internet users are posting status updates on Twitter or another service (I would imagine that Facebook is the runner-up, with others trailing by a mile).

One unsurprising statistic about Twitter users: they’re young. Or at least, the 18-29 demographic marks the largest percentage; 33% of U.S. adults in that age group use Twitter. And another “duh” moment: people who use other social networks (like Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) are more likely to tweet than those who don’t. Also more likely: those who have wireless access or multiple mobile devices.

Okay, so a lot of “duh,” but one interesting note in the report was the distinct jump in Twitter usage over the past six months. The 19% stat is up from the 11% found in both December 2008 and April 2009.

You may remember what happened to Twitter in April; Oprah happened. So could the jump in all those status messages be partly due to the Oprah Effect? After all, if she can sell a book, she can probably sell a social network.

Oh, and by the way, I was right; my mom did start using Twitter, back in April. That’s +1.

[Image Source: mallix (CC)]