Twitter users have quadrupled over past two years
Originally published at The Preternatural Post. Please leave any comments there.
If you tweet on a daily basis, you aren’t alone. According to a recent U.S. survey, Twitter, the social microblogging site, has experienced an explosion of users interest . In fact the number of American adults who use the site on a daily basis has quadrupled since 2010. Today eight percent of the online adult population uses Twitter non a typical day, according to a study carried out by Princeton Survey Research Associates on behalf of the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
Interest is also increasing in the U.K. where eight million users has accessed Twitter in the last 30 days.
Role players of course realize this news must be taken with a grain of salt. The number of RPers has also increased dramatically in the last couple of years, however, many of us role play more than one character. Although exact figures regarding RP on twitter are not available, the data that was released hints at the potential impact RP is having.
For example, the number of adults who use Twitter on a daily basis has doubled since May 2011 and the reaserch, which involved more than 2,000 adults age 18 and older, suggests that the rise may be due to the rapid spread of smartphones. What’s more, young adults favor Twitter more than older adults. Over a quarter of Peple between the ages of 18 and 29 tweet daily and when that is narrowed to adults between 18 and 24 the precentage climbs to 31 percent. Only 14 percent of users between the ages of 30 and 49 years old tweet daily.
The next time you’re RPing, take a random look at your timeline. You see that many characters are role playing from their smartphones. A non-scientific survey will also reveal the majority of role player are under the age of 30. Where the connections fall apart is in the measuring of daily use. Many RPer who have multiple characters don’t role play on all of then on a daily basis.
Another non-scientific measure of the growing popularity of role play in Twitter is the number of times the Twe-Guide to TBRP has been downloaded. Since the 2nd edition was published on Saturday, June 9, 2012, it has been read more than 150 times (in less than 48 hours). That’s significant interest from just one corner of the RP universe on Twitter.
Does any of this anecdotal data mean role play is having a significant effect on Twitter growth. Probably not. But it may be something researchers may want to look into….