There is an interesting read on mashable.com about increased Twitter usage by young people. We’ve been working with some institutions on social media solutions, and I’m wondering if this means we will see an increased use in this platform by colleges and universities that serve traditional-age students.
A highlight from the mashable article regarding trends in Twitter demographics: “In other words, unlike popular social sites before it most notably Facebook and MySpace Twitter is actually ‘aging in reverse,’ first gaining popularity with older users and only later teens and young adults.”
Social media and it’s growth, as we’ve seen, is difficult to predict. Some providers have focused on creating platforms (such as MySpace, Facebook, and Tumblr) where people can easily feed in a variety of links and media types, and Twitter lies on the other end of that spectrum. It’s almost the anti-Facebook; there are no ads, no goofy applications, no quizzes, and no rich media. You get 140 characters per post and that’s it, so each thought or link is usually fairly self-contained. If you want to link rich media you can still do it, but the Twitter service itself does not embed the media in your post. There are only two options for relating to other users: follow or don’t follow… Twitter has no groups, calendars, no fan pages, and no polls. Twitter makes its users communicate in a way that is arguably much simpler than the social media platforms that have have come before it.
In an age of information where “more is more” can a strategy that is focused on providing less actually work?
My theory is yes. I believe that Twitter and microblogging platforms like Twitter are going to continue to grow in popularity for a few reasons:
Sometimes, less is more. As we’ve seen, Facebook is increasingly filled with apps, ads, and robust media. In a best case scenario, robust media means a more immersive experience, and in a worst case scenario, it means you have to wade through a lot of irrelevant details to actually see what your friends are doing. The way Twitter distributes content is more like an RSS feed. So you can see what people are up to without having to do as much mental sifting.
Shorter, more informal communication seems to be the benchmark of social media. Twitter is kind of on the leading edge of this, because they give you hard cap on characters per post. The Twitter rule set forces you to be concise, even more so when providing a link. While it’s not quite as short as texting from a mobile phone, it’s the same kind of communication as texting. This is another reason I think we’ll see Twitter usage continue to increase with young people.
It’s flexible. The Twitter API is extremely easy to repurpose (i.e. RSS feeds), integrate with social networks that are trying to be a platform (like Facebook), or analyze (sites such as wefollow.com). Twitter isn’t trying to do everything, it’s just trying to do one thing really well. It’s less like a platform, and more like a good tool that can fit into just about any toolbox.
I’m fully aware that the future, and the fickle public may prove me wrong. For now, I’m going to keep an eye on the growth of Twitter and its changing demographics.