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The facts are in. Teens don’t tweet. But why, wonder millions already afflicted by Twitter, are so many youngsters immune to the plague? I did a bit of market research (read: spent time with my 17 year-old brother and his friends) and unearthed some surprising results. Here, in the words of those blessed with the power to spurn the blue bird’s beak, why teens don’t tweet:
So…
1. Same as texting (and teens text more than anyone)
2. Angst
3. I don't understand this one
4. Sure, makes sense
5. Misinformed
6. Logic is severely flawed
So conclusion is, teens don't tweet because they don't know any better?
Except the kid in the hat…if all he's using it for is talking to friends he can just as well text.
One of the comments in the mashable post made a good point, that perhaps teens don't tweet because they don't want adults knowing what they're doing, and most have no use for self-promotion (like a business, blog, etc.) which is what many adults use it for.
I found this post through twitter, shared it on twitter, and commented via my twitter account, so i guess i have no anti-twitter to claim.
Just like the kid in the hat, they also tend to be fully vested in myspace, facebook, and IRL social networks. (read: school)
They already have so many options they’re busy building cliques to narrow things down into manageable groups. (Sounds a bit like the adults with Tweetdeck, no?)
Haha! @ “logic is severely flawed.”
Isn’t that par for the course with most teens? If I remember correctly, (which I try not to do) I had some pretty flawed logic myself in those days. =)
Thanks Patrick!
Good post, btw. Loved the anti-drug campaign parallel.
Clever post! Yeah, there's a serious stigma amongst Gen Ys about Twitter being some blown-up, Facebook type status updater that mostly older people use. It's really sad too- especially the “business” as an anti-twitter almost makes me want to cry
. When I first got on Twitter (just a couple of months ago) I was not right away convinced (and my anti-twitters would have been, ironically, both “noise” and “silence”). “Noise” because when I followed people (I had a pretty bad “who-to-follow sense” initially 
) I got a lot of uninteresting tweets and “silence” because when I tweeted out, I knew only a couple of my friends were on Twitter to listen.
But after playing around with it, adopting some tools and learning how to work the site, I realized that far from being a noise machine, Twitter is actually a really fantastic way to filter and sort through noise. It's not a perfect system yet, but by following the right people and information sources, Twitter makes it easy to learn about news and conversations you are interested in, as they happen.
And the silence thing also is becoming further and further from the truth. The thing is that while Twitter can be a tool for keeping in touch with existing friends, I think it is very, if not more useful as a tool for extending your reach to new people- both exposing yourself to and getting to know others. Now-a-days it is hard to tweet out about a brand name or issue without having a twitter account associated with it “hear you” and start following you. And the REALLY good ones will show concern for what you tweeted by engaging you about it. It's good stuff =). And great for business
.
Such an adult treatment of things! =) It’s definitely cool to watch the platform grow up.
Getting my work done is my anti-twitter. I think they should research what percentage of tweets are generated by the fun-employed vs people that actually have real work to do.
Anyway, teens need a quick and simple value proposition and Twitter doesn't deliver in that regard. If a teen asked you “why should I be on Twitter?” could you really convince them? I couldn't.
“fun-employed.” = freelancers?
I think I’d have a much easier time of convincing a teen to blog than to use Twitter.
It's funny. I think you could take each of those words and easily turn them into a pro-twitter
.
I fell for this hook-line and sinker. But I think Teens and Tweens don't tweet because they prefer to keep their dark deeds secret. That's why my daughters will get a cell phone only device (no text options) after they turn 13years old – with enough minutes for 2 emergency phone calls a day, tops.
Hey Angelo! I wasn’t trying to trick anybody. Just experimenting with other ways of making a point besides bulleted lists and “here’s the take-away” posts.
I like your idea of using phones for emergencies & keeping in touch w/ parents. There’s nothing wrong with learning to enjoy silence and analog conversations with real friends, eh?
Thats interesting because my daughter is anti-twitter as well. She was a big fan of myspace and now just facebook.
Maybe because there's a distinct lack of “WaReZ RuLeZ” on Twitter…?
My thought was that it all depends on who the early adapters are. In the case of Twitter it's certainly not teenagers. Therefore Twitter is for old people.
My teenage son contradicted me, though. According to him, it has to do with the Twitter question 'What are you doing?' This question leads to people telling about what they are doing instead of engaging in a two-way conversation. In other words: Twitterazi mainly want to broadcast themselves and draw attention to themselves. Conclusion: Twitter is not the ideal tool for conversation, the way MSN is.
Your son is right on target, I think. Twitter is great for content discovery. When you find somebody you like, what do you do with them? You invite them to a different platform to have a real conversation.
I find Twitter a great place to share and find, but not to sustain.
Thanks Eline!
Twitter is to let people know what you are up too.. Remeber being a kid and doing stuff your parents don't need to know? Why would you tell your parent you are trying to smoke some weed, or drinking alchohol? You know what happens then when you get home…… Therefore youngsters don't use Twitter.
I still wouldn’t want them to know.
I answer “what are you interested in?”
And, as they have for years, my parents have no interest in what I say. =)
The adult version is even worse though. Grown people saying things like *giggle*, etc. Enough to drive a person nuts. =)
http://lalawag.com/introducing-the-funemployed/
myspace=bar fb=bbque linkedin=office twitter=cafe (or algonquin roundtable on a good day; a conference room on a bad one) so why would any teen want to hang out there. the schoolyard, the skateboard park, even the basement playroom are all more inviting.
Oh teens tweet baby. Have you ever looked into a stream of a #stupidtrendingtopic? I went there the other night just to see why #that'swhatshesaid (or something like that) was popular. When I saw the thread – I was clearly the oldest guy in the room. And whitest.
Isn't it because everyone on Twitter is basically trying to sell something? Or network? Teens hopefully aren't running businesses but studying so it has no value for them.
I think that's a lot of it, yes. I've met some very cool Teens through
Twitter…and most of them are promoting a business of some sort.
hey seth,
your opening was a real stroke. made me think “children of tweetoholics anonymous” or “TAT: teens against tweeters”.
i understand both sides of it. i have mostly been outside of twitter for biased (ignorant) reasons. i am now on the inside for purposeful reasons. it was adolescent of me to dismiss it out of hand as “not so good”. …and still i feel adolescent as i learn my way with it.