Twitter Awareness At 92%, But Usage Just A Fraction Of That

By Matt McGee

Published: March 9, 2011 at 9:14 am

New research suggests that most Americans are well aware of Twitter … they’re just not using it.

According to an Edison Research/Arbitron study, Twitter awareness in the U.S. among people 12 years old and older is at 92% — that’s up from 87% a year ago.

But adoption is a different story; the Edison/Arbitron study estimates Twitter usage at 8% of all Americans 12 and older. That number matches the Pew research a few months ago that pegged Twitter usage at 8% of all US Internet users.

The data underscores Twitter’s challenge: how to increase regular adoption in a social world that continues to be dominated by Facebook. Twitter has made several improvements over the years in helping users find new accounts to follow and has a guide for businesses, too. CEO Dick Costolo recently spoke about the company’s desire that Twitter be “instantly useful. It needs to be simple.”

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Contributing authors are chosen for their expertise and work under the oversight of the editorial staff. Search Engine Land is owned by Semrush. The contributor was not asked to mention Semrush; the opinions expressed are their own.

About the author

Matt McGee

Matt McGee joined Third Door Media as a writer/reporter/editor in September 2008. He served as Editor-In-Chief from January 2013 until his departure in July 2017. He can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee.