Twitter far behind Facebook and MySpace in Australia
Twitter is attracting a much older demographic than its rivals, according to an analysis of Australian statistics by media agency Maxus’s digital director Ben Shepherd.
According to Nielsen Netview numbers crunched by Shepherd, 36% of Twitter users in Australia are aged 35 to 49. By comparison, Facebook’s key demographic is 25-34 year olds who make up 32% of its user base. And the sweet spot for MySpace is 12-17, which is the age of 28.5% of its users.
And he said that the data the data shows that Twitter has a long way to catch other sites. Facebook has 4.7m Aussie users and MySpace 1.9m. But Twitter only has 780,000, according to Nielsen. However, that does not take into account those using other platforms such as Tweetdeck.
Writing in his Talking Digital blog, Shepherd counseled about getting carried away by Twitter. He said:
It’s a shame that the Twitter numbers don’t count those people using a 3rd party application such as Tweetdeck. I’m sure the percentage of Aussie users with be a lot higher.
What’s so bad about Twitter having an older audience? Nielsen data also indicates that they are more likely to be educated and professionals. Every other medium is becoming more and more fragmented, why not social networks?
Does it always have to be about size and who is ‘bigger’. Should not the fact that Twitter attracts a niche professional audience be of the most value? In my personal and professional usage there is a claer division between social networks. For me – it is LinkedIn and Twitter for contacts, news, views and options and Facebook for photos, invites and applications.
To clarify … I never said it was about size … but it is a factor when you throw resource into something … just putting the numbers up there. Anyway, I think the numbers around engagement are very relevant … don’t you?
Nor did I say it was bad Twitter has an older audience.
Personally, I feel there needs to be less hysteria around new things and more calm thinking … I understand no one wants to miss the boat but for every Google there’s 100 Second Life’s and if, as an industry, we’re seen to jump on every new trend without being diligent maybe clients will start to question our ability to scour through the crap and find the relevant.
And older more refined demographic perhaps? People who actually use the service rather than play with it. No drunken photos or stupid quizzes. We just have to wait for the young ones to get older (and they will mwwahhh ha ha) then they’ll be on twitter. The world keeps turning.
A good analysis and well said Ben. I can’t wait for the “well my niche is bigger than your niche arguments to breal out”.
If anyone has heard of the SMS enabled twitter coming to Australia can you please let me know what you know. Is it not the main difference between US user numbers and here? They get tweets via SMS also?
agreed dan, that’s the biggest difference between australian use of twitter and US use. mobile phone usage. i can send tweets by phone but not receive them and that is the number one reason my twitter use is tied to my computer. once that option is available i think the numbers of aussies tweeting will soar.