Why Aren’t There More Young People on Twitter?
I love Twitter. When I first got a Twitter account, I thought it was totally creepy and I had a really hard time getting into it. But now, I think it may be one of the most underrated web-sites out there.
(For those who don’t “tweet,” Twitter is like Facebook, except the entire site is just peoples’ status updates. Dedicated Twitter users update their status between eight and twenty times a day. I average between five and ten during the weekdays (weekends are more private!)).
And while I have some fun people that I follow and a great group of followers, most of my college peers aren’t on Twitter, and a lot haven’t even heard of it! Which is illogical, because I think if anyone wants to know the constant whereabouts of their friends for organizing random get-togethers or for pure curiosity, it’s college students! So why does it seem that Twitter hasn’t caught on amongst college kids?
Follow me on Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/LizFunk. And if you haven’t used Twitter, join! It’s free to sign up at www.Twitter.com
Chad Kennedy | November 22nd, 2008 at 1:03 am
I’m a new user to Twitter in the past month and only use the site every once in a while. To be honest, I don’t really get it. I think my life must be boring because there’s no way I could update eight to twenty times a day with what I’m doing. As far as college students, I think a lot of them would rather just post their status updates on Facebook since all their friends are already on there. Eventually I am sure Twitter will catch on in the mainstream but I don’t see it being hugely popular, at least not MySpace or Facebook levels.
tyfn | November 22nd, 2008 at 2:56 am
I’m a grad student in Vancouver, Canada. I know very few students on campus that use twitter. Everyone uses Facebook and that is enough for communication when you have limited time. In addition, twitter doesn’t seem private and the idea that anyone can read your tweets freaks out people that are used to a closed space (e.g. only having close friends on Facebook).
I think people are quite happy sharing details about an upcoming party on someone’s FB wall, rather than sending on a public twitter message. It may also be, that students are just not aware of twitter, like non-students weren’t really aware of Facebook before it became open to the public.
Phillip
irisira | November 22nd, 2008 at 6:30 am
Hah - it used to be AIM away messages, and before that, wipe boards on dorm room doors. It’s really bizarre that THAT makes me feel old. AIM was just starting it’s upswing when I started college - which was right around the time non-dialup Internet became popular.
(Wow. I AM getting old.)
*ahem* Anyway - I actually have noticed that more people “my age” (i.e., late 20s-40s) have really grabbed on to Twitter - the Gen Xers, if you will. You’re right - Gen Y, except perhaps the oldest faction (which, by some definitions I am; by others I’m Gen X), hasn’t really gotten a hold on this idea in the same way.