"Young, mobile, and educated." These words describe Twitter users who source their news through the micro-blogging site. A new study found out that about eight percent of adults (or nearly 1 of 10 adults) in the United States consume news through Twitter, compared to 30 percent of the population (or nearly 1 of 3 adults) that get their news from Facebook.
The study done by Pew Research in partnership with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation surveyed 5,000 adults in the U.S. and looked into how they get their news. Another related study analyzed conversations on Twitter about major news items in a span of three years.
The reports revealed that 84 percent of adults in the country are not Twitter users. Of the 16 percent who use Twitter, half of it consume news on the microblogging site.
About 45 percent of news consumers on Twitter belong to the 18 to 29-year-old age group.while people in the 30 to 49 bracket lead the pack for Facebook users who get their news from the social network. Only 14 percent of news consumers on Twitter belong to the 50 to 64 age group while only two percent are at least 65 years old.
Those consuming news on Twitter tend to be more educated than those getting their dose of news from Facebook. While only 30 percent of news consumers who rely on Facebook have at least a Bachelor's degree, roughly 40 percent of Twitter news consumers have a bachelor's degree or more.
A big chunk, roughly 85 percent, of news consumers on Twitter tends to get their news on a mobile device compared to 64 percent of those relying on Facebook for news. Overall, about 40 percent of the population use their smartphones and tablets to browse for news.
The other part of the study looked into 10 major issues that created some buzz between May 2011 and October 2013. The proponents of the study found out that Twitter is preferred by users to spread breaking news such as stories about the George Zimmerman acquittal and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
The study also found out that the sentiments of Twitter users with regard to big news events tend to shift and evolve even in as short as a month. The researchers also concluded that the sentiments on Twitter cannot be used as gauge for public opinion as what became evident during the 2012 presidential elections where Ron Paul dominated Twitter getting more positive sentiments but in real life, the verdict of the voting public was very different.
