The real Twitter
generation: Over-30s
Truth be told, it's kids, even twenty-somethings
By Toni Fitzgerald
Mar 24, 2009
MySpace became one of the country’s most-visited sites thanks to users under 30 who joined it to reconnect with long-lost friends. Facebook rose to prominence with a cadre of high school and college devotees who messaged about school, social outings and sports practice.
The fastest-growing social networking destination on the web these days is being driven by a very different demographic: older adults. They make up nearly double the visitors to Twitter.com as those under 30, according to new data from Nielsen Online.
Three-year-old Twitter has seen traffic explode 1,382 percent over the past year, with unique visitors going from 475,000 in February 2008 to 7.038 million in February 2009.
It was by far the fastest-growing site in Nielsen’s member community category, expanding five times as fast as the No. 2 site, Zimbio, which was up 240 percent over last year, and the No. 3 site, Facebook, up 228 percent.
And most of those Twitter users are between ages 35-49, according to Nielsen, some 41.7 percent. Just 19.6 percent are ages 25-34, and only 3.6 percent are 2-17. Just over 16 percent are age 55 and over, and 6.8 percent are 65 and over.
That’s in contrast to past social networking crazes like Facebook and MySpace, where growth was initially driven by the young. Four years ago, when those sites were just emerging, 55 percent of MySpace users were under 35, according to comScore, and three years ago, 48 percent of Facebook users were under 25.
But as social networking has matured, so too has its audience, as businesses recognize such sites’ usefulness as a corporate tool. These days roughly half of MySpace and Facebook visitors are also 35 or over.
Twitter is a microblogging site that allows users to post so-called “tweets” about themselves that others can follow. They may be as simple as “Just grabbed a sandwich” or, in the case of the increasing number of businesses who use them, an advertising tool designed to get followers to log onto their web sites or try a new product.
Indeed, a huge amount of Twitter’s traffic comes from work, according to Nielsen. Sixty-two percent of visitors access Twitter from work, compared to 35 percent at home; the rest do so from public computers.
“In an unstable economy, [Twitter] might prove to be an economical and important part of an employer’s marketing strategy that helps to keep consumers aware of and connected to their brand,” notes Nielsen in its report.
Twitter has also built quite a mobile audience. In January, Nielsen reports, 735,000 unique visitors accessed the site through their mobile phones, visiting the site 14 times per month for an average of seven minutes per visit.
***
Meanwhile, in online ratings for the week ended March 15, according to Nielsen Online, Google claimed the top spot among parent companies, followed by Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL LLC and Facebook, which knocked News Corp. to No. 6. The top five brands were Google, Yahoo, MSN/Windows Live, Microsoft and AOL Media Network.
Vonage Holdings claimed the top advertiser spot with 1.71 million impressions, followed by Scottrade at 1.58 million. With 14.52 million ads served, Yahoo was again the top advertising site, well ahead of No. 2 MySpace at 2.58 million.
Sessions per person per week were even to the previous week at 17, and domains visited per person were also even at 42. PC time per person was up 3 percent compared with the previous week to 19 hours and 53 minutes.
|
Top 25 parent companies
Week ending March 15 |
|
#
|
Parent
|
Unique Audience (000)
|
Reach %
|
Time Spent per Person (hh:mm:ss)
|
|
1
|
Google
|
102,651
|
71.3
|
0:39:15
|
|
2
|
Microsoft
|
90,816
|
63.1
|
0:52:40
|
|
3
|
Yahoo!
|
82,659
|
57.4
|
1:11:50
|
|
4
|
AOL LLC
|
51,813
|
36.0
|
1:25:43
|
|
5
|
Facebook
|
43,651
|
30.3
|
1:12:55
|
|
6
|
News Corp. Online
|
43,557
|
30.3
|
0:31:53
|
|
7
|
eBay
|
34,841
|
24.2
|
0:53:48
|
|
8
|
InterActiveCorp
|
28,584
|
19.9
|
0:09:47
|
|
9
|
Amazon
|
28,555
|
19.8
|
0:14:39
|
|
10
|
Wikimedia Foundation
|
27,961
|
19.4
|
0:08:23
|
|
11
|
Apple Computer
|
27,362
|
19.0
|
0:34:51
|
|
12
|
Walt Disney Internet Group
|
24,582
|
17.1
|
0:19:09
|
|
13
|
CBS Corporation
|
23,281
|
16.2
|
0:11:18
|
|
14
|
Turner Network (Division)
|
22,984
|
16.0
|
0:18:57
|
|
15
|
New York Times Company
|
21,288
|
14.8
|
0:10:12
|
|
16
|
Landmark Communications
|
21,239
|
14.8
|
0:14:15
|
|
17
|
AT&T Inc.
|
18,080
|
12.6
|
0:16:38
|
|
18
|
CraigsList
|
16,849
|
11.7
|
0:42:29
|
|
19
|
Comcast Corp.
|
15,215
|
10.6
|
0:22:16
|
|
20
|
Viacom Digital
|
14,416
|
10.0
|
0:20:30
|
|
21
|
Verizon Communications
|
13,591
|
9.4
|
0:20:24
|
|
22
|
RealNetworks, Inc.
|
13,080
|
9.1
|
0:16:38
|
|
23
|
Glam Media
|
13,066
|
9.1
|
0:09:42
|
|
24
|
Time Warner (Division)*
|
12,898
|
9.0
|
0:13:40
|
|
25
|
United Online
|
12,595
|
8.8
|
0:26:16
|
|
* Time Warner division excludes Turner Network’s audience
Source: Nielsen Online
Note: The parent level is defined as a consolidation of multiple domains and URLs owned by a single company or division.
|
|
Top 25 brands
Week ending March 15 |
|
|
Parent
|
Unique Audience (000)
|
Reach %
|
Time spent per person (hh:mm:ss)
|
|
1 |
Google
|
95,891
|
66.6
|
0:28:18
|
|
2 |
Yahoo!
|
81,731
|
56.8
|
1:12:12
|
|
3 |
MSN/Windows Live
|
65,639
|
45.6
|
0:55:19
|
|
4 |
Microsoft
|
61,245
|
42.5
|
0:18:47
|
|
5 |
AOL Media Network
|
51,813
|
36.0
|
1:25:43
|
|
6 |
Facebook
|
43,651
|
30.3
|
1:12:55
|
|
7 |
YouTube
|
41,344
|
28.7
|
0:26:26
|
|
8 |
Fox Interactive Media
|
35,356
|
24.6
|
0:32:55
|
|
9 |
Wikipedia
|
27,744
|
19.3
|
0:08:21
|
|
10 |
eBay
|
27,426
|
19.1
|
0:52:57
|
|
11 |
Apple
|
27,362
|
19.0
|
0:34:51
|
|
12 |
Amazon
|
23,677
|
16.5
|
0:14:32
|
|
13 |
Ask Search Network
|
19,445
|
13.5
|
0:10:15
|
|
14 |
Weather Channel
|
18,208
|
12.7
|
0:15:19
|
|
15 |
CNN Digital Network
|
17,805
|
12.4
|
0:18:22
|
|
16 |
Blogger
|
17,541
|
12.2
|
0:08:14
|
|
17 |
Craigslist
|
16,849
|
11.7
|
0:42:29
|
|
18 |
About.com
|
14,142
|
9.8
|
0:03:21
|
|
19 |
AT&T
|
13,982
|
9.7
|
0:19:00
|
|
20 |
Real Network
|
13,080
|
9.1
|
0:16:38
|
|
21 |
Glam Media
|
13,066
|
9.1
|
0:09:42
|
|
22 |
Bank of America
|
12,341
|
8.6
|
0:23:12
|
|
23 |
Comcast
|
11,521
|
8.0
|
0:27:16
|
|
24 |
ESPN
|
11,070
|
7.7
|
0:19:32
|
|
25 |
Disney Online
|
9,754
|
6.8
|
0:20:04
|
|
Source: Nielsen Online
Note: The brand level is defined as a consolidation of multiple domains and URLs that has a consistent collection of branded content. |
|
Top 25 advertisers
(excludes house ads)
Week ending March 15 |
|
#
|
Company
|
Impressions (000)
|
|
1 |
Vonage Holdings Corp
|
1,711,951
|
|
2 |
Scottrade, Inc.
|
1,581,161
|
|
3 |
AT&T Corp.
|
1,090,366
|
|
4 |
FreeScore.com
|
857,334
|
|
5 |
Experian Group Limited
|
854,375
|
|
6 |
Deutsche Telekom AG
|
851,294
|
|
7 |
Netflix, Inc.
|
751,613
|
|
8 |
E*TRADE FINANCIAL Corp.
|
750,355
|
|
9 |
Mate1.com
|
711,362
|
|
10 |
NexTag, Inc.
|
649,648
|
|
11 |
Verizon Communications, Inc.
|
647,506
|
|
12 |
Medifast, Inc.
|
621,257
|
|
13 |
eBay, Inc.
|
591,566
|
|
14 |
Sprint Corporation
|
524,420
|
|
15 |
TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation
|
484,561
|
|
16 |
Ford Motor Company
|
419,239
|
|
17 |
College-Finder.net
|
413,746
|
|
18 |
Fidelity Investments
|
410,330
|
|
19 |
Progressive Casualty Insurance Company
|
385,059
|
|
20 |
InterActiveCorp
|
382,425
|
|
21 |
Bank of America Corporation
|
372,640
|
|
22 |
Intuit, Inc.
|
338,695
|
|
23 |
LifeLock
|
330,901
|
|
24 |
Weight Watchers International, Inc.
|
325,729
|
|
25 |
Skype Technologies S.A.
|
307,216
|
|
Source: Nielsen Online, AdRelevance
Note: Nielsen Online, AdRelevance service estimated online advertising expenditures account for CPM-based image-based advertising. All reported estimated expenditures and impressions do not account for the following placement types: text only, paid fee services, performance-based campaigns, sponsorships, barters, in-stream ("pre-rolls") players, messenger applications, partnership advertising, promotions and email campaigns. AdRelevance currently does not report estimated spending for paid search advertising. Also, Nielsen Online, AdRelevance reporting data reflects advertising activity served on pages accessible via the World Wide Web and not within AOL's proprietary service. |
|
Top 25 advertising sites
(excludes house ads)
Week ending March 15 |
|
|
Company
|
Impressions (000)
|
|
1 |
Yahoo!
|
14,519,490
|
|
2 |
MySpace
|
2,575,318
|
|
3 |
MSN
|
2,527,641
|
|
4 |
AOL.com
|
1,648,096
|
|
5 |
FOXNEWS.COM
|
1,457,469
|
|
6 |
Comcast.net
|
904,574
|
|
7 |
The Weather Channel
|
898,941
|
|
8 |
CNBC
|
725,312
|
|
9 |
ESPN.com
|
548,434
|
|
10 |
Facebook
|
541,338
|
|
11 |
eBay
|
425,882
|
|
12 |
YouTube
|
368,661
|
|
13 |
Juno
|
344,729
|
|
14 |
AT&T Worldnet
|
312,489
|
|
15 |
New York Times
|
302,843
|
|
16 |
Charter.net
|
301,765
|
|
17 |
CNN Money
|
297,120
|
|
18 |
MSNBC
|
259,369
|
|
19 |
Amazon
|
254,088
|
|
20 |
CNN
|
252,513
|
|
21 |
Pogo
|
186,502
|
|
22 |
Verizon Online
|
174,786
|
|
23 |
Drudge Report
|
160,267
|
|
24 |
Realtor.com
|
152,462
|
|
25 |
FoxBusiness.com
|
143,386
|
|
Source: Nielsen Online, AdRelevance
Note: Nielsen Online, AdRelevance service estimated online advertising expenditures account for CPM-based image-based advertising. All reported estimated expenditures and impressions do not account for the following placement types: text only, paid fee services, performance-based campaigns, sponsorships, barters, in-stream ("pre-rolls") players, messenger applications, partnership advertising, promotions and email campaigns. AdRelevance currently does not report estimated spending for paid search advertising. Above data does not include any house advertising activity. Also, Nielsen Online, AdRelevance reporting data reflects advertising activity served on pages accessible via the World Wide Web and not within AOL's proprietary service. |
|
Average use
Week ending March 15 |
|
|
Current Week
|
Last Week
|
% Change
|
|
Sessions/Visits per Person
|
17
|
17
|
0
|
|
Domains Visited per Person
|
42
|
42
|
0
|
|
PC Time per Person
|
19:53:01
|
19:15:48
|
3.22
|
|
Active Digital Media Universe
|
143,978,275
|
144,449,994
|
-0.33
|
|
Current Digital Media Universe Estimate
|
230,785,011
|
230,753,535
|
0.01
|
|
Source: Nielsen Online |
|
|
|
