How much influence does Twitter really wield?

… Overall, only about a quarter of American adults say they ever use Twitter, according to the Pew Research Center. That number is a small fraction of some of the more dominant social media platforms. More than 80% of Americans say they use YouTube and about 70% say they use Facebook. One in 4 Americans say they use Instagram. About 1 in 5 Americans say they use TikTok.

Of course, Twitter reaches a lot more people when snapshots of posts pop up on cable or broadcast television, but that’s not the same as direct contact with users. Usually, there is other editorial context around those on-air posts — sometimes a lot of editorial context.

And beyond the size of Twitter’s audience, there is the question of what “audience” means. The data suggest there are a lot of Americans on the platform primarily in lurker mode. The top 25% of U.S. adult tweeters produce 97% of the tweets. CONTINUED

Dante Chinni, NBC News


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