Mashable - The Social Media Guide - Latest Comments in Why Teens Don’t Tweet

Re: Why Teens Don’t Tweet

Emma — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 01:05:25 -0000

I don't twitter because it just seems pointless. Sure, there's newsy stuff on there, but I can get that elsewhere. It primarily boring facebook status messages, and I don't even like those on *facebook.*

Re: Why Teens Don’t Tweet

mahimanral — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:53:46 -0000

thanx for this great information.

Re: Why Teens Don’t Tweet

liebowitz — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 10:46:02 -0000

Teens are replaced daily. Old farts are lost daily. Do the math. Teen market = huge profits (as long as you don't remain stagnate).

Re: Why Teens Don’t Tweet

JeromeB — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 05:57:43 -0000

I have some simple explanation (and checked live with 3 people who are between 14 and 22y old):
1) They are not on Twitter because the are on MSN all day !!!! or other instant messaging platform, yahoo etc.
2) They have smaller fingers than us, so we old people type on keyboards while they can keep with T9 predictive phone keyboards that we consider so ridiculous.

Personnally, I still believe twitter is the fast-food of the brain, and being french I almost hate this. but addictive, like Quick Milkshakes (Quick is the French McDonald's, or I shall say Wendy's in fact).

Re: Why Teens Don’t Tweet

Stella Wong — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 10:41:28 -0000

I'm 15. I tweet because I wanna catch up with the news, especially #Iranelection and #Afghanelection .
I guess it's kinda weird for a teen to do that, though :P

Re: Why Teens Don’t Tweet

Ron Stark — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:02:33 -0000

I posted earlier in the thread that the 'twitter concept' and awkwardness of searching the public timeline along with the learning curve discouraged teens from being active in twitter and acts as a filter. This is still true. After being bombarded by teens saying "I'm not THAT slow" I realized I must have mistweeted my thoughts. To grow with the web2.0+ just takes the diligence that few teens have. This is not to say that some do not, just most are focused on other things. I am sorry If I have offended

Re: Why Teens Don’t Tweet

Ron Stark — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:01:47 -0000

Re: Why Teens Don’t Tweet

Madeleine — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 02:48:30 -0000

I'm and teen and I do not tweet because I believe it's the biggest waste of time ever. People stereotype us as being lazy and wasting our time on the computer or tv, but tweeting is even worse. I don't think we should promote higher egos in today's society. We already love to talk about ourself and have trouble with empathy, why encourage more me me me? What am I doing, and I am the only important thing so I have to write about myself constantly. Is that really how shallow we all have become? Twitter is basically saying screw altruism and people helping each other for the better of mankind, because nothing around you is important, just yourself. We're in the time of our lives, why waste it when we can be creating amazing human beings?

Re: Why Teens Don’t Tweet

Mark — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:52:11 -0000

You don't mention the percentage of people in the actual population that make up each group.
Without looking at those numbers how do you know the relevance?
I don't know the statistics but maybe there are fewer teenagers?
Shouldn't you scale the figures according to the relevant proportions?

Re: Why Teens Don’t Tweet

Matter3 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:24:32 -0000

I'm under 25 and don't feel the need to user Twitter. Maybe at some point so I can catch the news, or special releases of stuff but right now I have no need.

Re: Why Teens Don’t Tweet

@RickHorowitz — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:30:41 -0000

There are lots of products that appeal to adults, but not necessarily to teens; there are lots of products that appeal to teens, but not necessarily to adults. Of those things, there are some that appealed to adults when they were teens, but no longer do; there will be some that do not YET appeal to teens, but will when they become adults.

I'm not sure everything has to appeal to all age groups to remain viable. As teens grow into adulthood, Twitter may become more important to them as a group.

On the other hand, I think you've just shown me that I'm still a teen at heart: after awhile, the appeal of Twitter has worn off for me a little, but I use Facebook several times a week (several times a day if you count just logging in to play Mafia Wars).

Of course, part of that is the difficulty I've had with Twitter actually working correctly when I try to access it. That wore me out really quickly.

Re: Why Teens Don’t Tweet

@RickHorowitz — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:29:23 -0000

I'm not sure everything has to appeal to all age groups to remain viable. As teens grow into adulthood, Twitter may become more important to them as a group.

Of course, part of that is the difficulty I've had with Twitter actually working correctly when I try to access it. That wore me out really quickly.

Re: Why Teens Don’t Tweet

Ahmed — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 06:38:12 -0000

being 14 yr old, I find that tech savvy teenagers are more willing to tweet. Teens that have more mature minds that deal with adults easily. Teens that are not about drama, but are willing to share useful information and being able to spell makes teens feel more comfortable at Twitter whilst keeping their personal lives at facebook. Facebook is a better and easier platform because all the tools you need to share are right there and most teens don't have anything to say but private stuff like "going to Melissa's, bbl!!! After that getting pizzaaaaa (:" Twitter is for spreading the news, sharing thoughts that wouldn't be suitable for facebook. Most teens also wouldn't know how to use Twitter probably, if they have no hobby they would spend a few tweets saying "figuring out this Twitter thing" then leave because they don't have anyone to follow, or do not know WHO to follow.this is my input coming from a very socially connected 14 year old who uses wordpress, tumblr, Twitter, facebook and formerly bebo & myspace

Re: Why Teens Don’t Tweet

Vance — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 19:24:18 -0000

I'm 18, and I use Twitter, but I use it for precisely the purpose mentioned in the article: I'm an XNA developer, so I use it to update progress on my projects for potential fans/customers.

Re: Why Teens Don’t Tweet

Raíssa — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 07:17:00 -0000

Hi! I am 17, and never thought about it, but your right! Twitter is not what I thought it was when I got in...

Re: Why Teens Don’t Tweet

Rick Powell — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 22:17:04 -0000

I lobbed an observation at Louis Gray the other week about the fact that mainstream tech bloggers throw out these observations, such as Twitter is not about your friends, and that sort of description sticks because you folks are supposed to know what you're talking about without really having done any research on how various groups and subgroups and cultures use Twitter.

For instance, the gay male community's use of Twitter is very much about our friends, and largely not about people we have actually met in meatspace. Sure, we broadcast and share links and information (and porn, ahem) but we also say good morning to each other. Seems also clear that hookups and meetups and tweetups take place, as they do for all sorts of ad-hoc twitter groups and communities.

I don't doubt that there are other micro-communities doing similar things.

The basic thrust of this post, that teens don't tweet, appears correct, but some of the underlying assumptions and tangents are untested and unproven.

Re: Why Teens Don’t Tweet

Rick Powell — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:58:40 -0000

I don't doubt that there are other micro-communities doing similar things.

The basic thrust of this post, that teens don't tweet, appears correct, but some of the underlying assumptions and tangents are untested and unproven.

Re: Why Teens Don’t Tweet

Austin — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:26:59 -0000

As a college student at Syracuse University, I'd say I am pretty well connected. I will be a junior in a few weeks, I'm in a large fraternity, and I have friends in most, if not all, the sororities and other fraternities. I'm also close with a lot of people not within the greek system, and at home, have a solid friend group. How many people do I know that have twitter? Two. One uses it maybe once a month at best to post funny comments that have no authenticity to them, and the other used it for maybe a month or two and then lost interest. On the other hand, how many people do I know WITHOUT a Facebook? One. The answer as to why teens don't use twitter is just as simple as the question twitter aims to answer: "Who Cares?" Chances are, if I post on twitter that I'm going to the mall or to the store, by the time someone sees that post, I'm probably already home from that venture. Twitter accomplishes nothing that can't be solved with a simple sms text or phone call. If someone really wants to know what I'm doing, they'll ask me. Unless you're a celebrity, chances are the only people who care enough to follow you are people you already know. With that in mind, there are countless other ways of communicating that are much more convenient (phone, text, blackberry messenger, Facebook) that I already check or use on a daily (...or hourly, or "minutely") basis that can reach the same goal twitter would, without the hassle or curiosity of wondering if someone just so happened to see my twitter post of what I'm doing.

Teens already went through one social revolution: The move from Myspace to Facebook. Why'd we do it? The same reason google exploded in popularity as a search engine: Simplicity. Myspace was popular at first becuase it opened the can of social media worms. Facebook revolutionized it by doing all the hard work for you. With Facebook, you didn't have to worry about creating html code to make your page look good, embedding games or videos, or suffer from annoying spam posts. Facebook even guided you through the creation of your profile by giving you what topics to explain about yourself. Once apps were added to enhance the Facebook experience, they did so in a controlled manner so that they were prevented from taking over one's entire profile page or becoming excessively annoying. Now, just like you google something if you want to find out about it, you Facebook someone if you want to get to know them. Twitter doesn't offer anything your Facebook status can't do. In fact, Twitter basically took Facebook's status feature and turned it into a website. I can either go to Facebook and see pictures and all about that person AND what they're doing, or I can go to Twitter and see just what they're doing with some pictures thrown in there. In essence, Twitter doesn't offer anything that's already available via other social media outlets. Although it is very simple, it doesn't offer us everything we're looking for. After already undergoing the massive move from Myspace to Facebook, the last thing teens want to do is start all over again and transition to Twitter, only to have less features available.

So what's going to happen?
I don't think Twitter will ever catch on with my generation. It serves no point for us. However, as the statistics show, adults find it very useful. If you look at the statistics for Facebook, I bet you will find them to be inverse of that of Twitter. While statistics for teens on Twitter are lacking, they are booming on Facebook. For the older generations which skipped the Myspace and Facebook fiasco, they are now just catching on to the social media era and naturally choose Twitter because it's the latest thing out, and very simple (all you have to try and figure out is how to post something limited to xxx characters, and not worry about creating a whole profile). As for the younger generations just coming up into the social media world, I think Twitter has a very good chance of catching on with them, as they will be open to exploring many of the available social media outlets of today and will certainly be curious about why Twitter is littered all over the news and internet. Teens have just invested too much time creating and changing their Facebook pages, friending everyone they know, and uploading pictures to remember the times they share. For someone who hasn't done all this, Twitter is a very viable option. But to someone who has, Twitter is just another ploy to waste our time.

Re: Why Teens Don’t Tweet

Indy — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:01:34 -0000

Adding to the I agree with the whole iPhone comment. My access to the net is at work or home, on an actual computer. I'm still too poor to afford web services on fancy gadgets. Not to say there aren't a million spoiled rotten brats out there, so hey, what do I know?

Anywho, things like gasoline and groceries are more important to me than the ability to tweet. Maybe someday.

Re: Why Teens Don’t Tweet

Indy — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 10:57:52 -0000

1) I'm 22 and don't consider myself in the teen category. I have Twitter. None of my friends do. It's really that simple. There's really no point to updating it constantly when the only people who see my tweets also see 18437430473461374380 others.

2) I know Twitter has its value, as I do get a lot of news from the site. However, I do tend to look at it as more of a...let's say...spamming tool.

3) Maybe teens aren't comfortable with the fact that there's tons of people on twitter following thousands, and I mean thousands, of others. Teens are programmed to NOT give out too much information on the web by their parents, to not try to make it easier for people to stalk them and kidnap them, etc. At least with Facebook, you see a profile, a picture of someone's life clearly. It could be fake, but teens probably bet that the guy they knew in second grade has a real profile up. It may be false reassurance, but I'm still wary when some random man follows my tweets and I've never heard of him...and since I hardly update, why would he even want to follow me?

4) Twitter kind of scares me. I don't want to put such personal updates out there. But I do, cause why not? That's what it's for, right? Then I take them down a few days later and curse myself and google for remembering.

It's a love/hate relationship. I want to be a news-guru, a responsible social media person, but as I don't have a brand or business, I just don't feel comfortable putting my tweets out there. I'd much rather post them for all of facebook to see, cause at least I know who will see it. For the most part.

Re: Why Teens Don’t Tweet

yopman — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 08:07:00 -0000

@matt you"re a geek, aren't you ?
We are talking about people, not nerds who have a iPhone and a continuous internet connection. Can you understand that some people don't need to do efforts for a commucation service, that theirs friends are not using?

Re: Why Teens Don’t Tweet

One-in-Herself — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:38:47 -0000

Exactly. That's why I love Twitter. You have an audience unlike social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. I use Twitter to reach out to people. It's easy for celebrities to influence people because of their large fan bases. That's what I want to do with Twitter. I hope I can get a lot of followers that way I can find people I really connect with. I hope that when I tweet people will be able to relate to what I have to say. I want to inspire people and one day send out a message of hope.

Re: Why Teens Don’t Tweet

One-in-Herself — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:38:13 -0000

Re: Why Teens Don’t Tweet

Jeff — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 13:25:24 -0000

Teens Don't Tweet, because twitter doesn't give them what they want. Facebook gives them what they want. In fact: Facebook has so much that they want, that they will spend hours and hours on it, because they like it so much. Teens want to have a easy and practical way of talking to each other, which Twitter doesn't have, and Facebook does. Teens want to be able to see what other people are saying to each other and see peoples photos. Twitter doesn't do this. Twitter has other redeeming qualities, which is why I have one.

Re: Why Teens Don’t Tweet

kosso — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 01:51:38 -0000

Sorry, but considering that there are zero fields in Twitter for gender, age, race, income, education and offspring, whose ass did Nielsen and Quantcast pull these stats from? If it was a survey, where was it? How big was the sample?