The front page of yesterday’s issue of the Diamondback, the University of Maryland independent student-run newspaper, featured the article “@UMD: 140 Characters to Nowhere.” The article comments on the ever-growing use of Twitter among university departments partnered with the sad response from students.
You would think that departmental Twitter accounts would be a huge hit. I mean let’s face it, college students are all about finding the best short cuts and the quickest ways to get their information (whether it’s tonight’s hot spot or facts for a last minute research paper). And if they can do it using their lap tops, they’re in heaven. But for some reason students aren’t catching on to the convenience of Twitter.
The article also mentions some statistics that say the majority of Twitter’s users range from ages 25-54. But I thought that everyone under 25, Generation X, were supposed to be fiends for anything social media? I am coming to realize that people around my age of 18-22 are really not into Twitter…yet. I guess I cannot generalize for all college students because the article was written at UMD, and, although I’m quite popular ; ) I cannot possibly speak for everyone in my age group.
However, I did come across this article from the University of South Florida: College Students are Twitterless, and another article that refers to it, Teens and College Students Ignoring Twitter . Oh, and this one from The Chronicle of Higher Education, Teens Don’t Tweet. I’m sure there are more on the subject, but let’s get to the point.
“Of the 250 Florida college students surveyed, 99 percent use social networking sites. However, only 15 percent have an account with Twitter and 34 percent have never even heard of the site. Some 58 percent of the students who have Twitter accounts never use the service or rarely log-on.”—Yes, 34% never heard of Twitter… and this was written this past June.
It fascinates me to see that this anti-Twitter trend among my age group may be cohesive across the US.
So there must be something common among America’s youth for this to make any sense. And I think I know what it is: Young people are a little selfish and impatient. The Diamondback article notes that the majority prefers Facebook, a fact I can support from personal experience and talking to peers. Let me also cite from an article I wrote about the Twitter Book by Tim O’Reilly and Sarah Milstein: “If you are frustrated at first, don’t worry, the authors say to take 3 weeks to get in the rhythm.”
Ok so back to why the young are selfish and impatient. First, they love Facebook because you can post an infinite amount of pictures showing everyone how much fun you had on vacation to Barcelona, your hilarious night out at the bar on Friday, how you met Will Ferrell in NYC or how good you look with your new hair cut. You get the point. It’s also much easier to see who is commenting each other and who knows who—it allows the college social circle to be endless, even after everyone retires back to their apartments and logs onto their computers.
Second, Twitter takes time to get used to, even the Twitter experts like O’Reilly and Milstein agree. It is unlikely that young people pressed for time would dedicate some of their precious minutes to getting into the swing of Twitter. Why learn something else when they already have a Facebook?
Although I use Twitter and realize its usefulness and innovation, I believe that people at an older age are better able to appreciate the site in all its character-limited glory. Maybe once the young acquire this appreciation of Twitter’s convenience, simplicity and ultimate ability to connect the world, they won’t be ignoring it anymore.
Being a part of “America’s youth,” I think it’s safe for me to make these assumptions, but please, correct me if I’m wrong. If I am making a terrible generalization, let me hear from all of you young tweeters!
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