Twitter has around 12% the number of active users that Facebook does, but in spite of the fact that this is the case the social media platform continues to be highly influential in the industry. It turns out that journalists might be playing a role in Twitter’s continued prominence despite its underwhelming usage numbers because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up giving Twitter a bit of relevance among these influential circles.
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that around 69% of journalists say that they use Twitter as either their primary or their secondary social media platform for work related usage. This information comes from a study that was recently published by the Pew Research Center, and it reveals a lot about the state of the industry today.
The only social media platform that came close to Twitter was Facebook with 52% of journalists saying they use it as their primary or secondary platform of choice. This is despite only 13% of American adults getting their news from Twitter, so it might have less to do with readership and more to do with the real time nature of the updates that journalists can receive on this platform.
The only other platforms that saw double digit percentages were Instagram with 19%, LinkedIn with 17% and YouTube with 14%. No other social media platform was able to cross 4% usage rates among journalists.
Observing tweets in real time can allow journalists to get the latest stories from around the world, and while verifying them might be difficult it is still contributing to the news cycle in quite an enormous way. Hence, even though Twitter has a meager 230 million odd users, the types of people that are on the platform are giving it outsized relevance in the industry.
This trend can bolster Twitter and help it survive even if its usage numbers don’t increase because there will always be a demand for short form real time updates on social media.
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With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that around 69% of journalists say that they use Twitter as either their primary or their secondary social media platform for work related usage. This information comes from a study that was recently published by the Pew Research Center, and it reveals a lot about the state of the industry today.
The only social media platform that came close to Twitter was Facebook with 52% of journalists saying they use it as their primary or secondary platform of choice. This is despite only 13% of American adults getting their news from Twitter, so it might have less to do with readership and more to do with the real time nature of the updates that journalists can receive on this platform.
The only other platforms that saw double digit percentages were Instagram with 19%, LinkedIn with 17% and YouTube with 14%. No other social media platform was able to cross 4% usage rates among journalists.
Observing tweets in real time can allow journalists to get the latest stories from around the world, and while verifying them might be difficult it is still contributing to the news cycle in quite an enormous way. Hence, even though Twitter has a meager 230 million odd users, the types of people that are on the platform are giving it outsized relevance in the industry.
This trend can bolster Twitter and help it survive even if its usage numbers don’t increase because there will always be a demand for short form real time updates on social media.
