Web Authoring

Something feels a little wrong about having to rely on a company that defines itself as a social media analyst to discover fully 15% of the Twitter users that follow more than 2,000 accounts on the social network identify themselves as “social media marketers.” Yet this is one in a set of ten interesting statistics to come out of a report by social media analysis company Sysomos on Twitter usage.

A summary of the 10 most interesting points from Sysomos’ report was done by the Rohit Bhargava, and includes info-nuggets like the fact that over half of all Twitter accounts are inactive (have not posted an update in over a week), and that the top 5% of accounts by volume of updates are responsible for 75% of the updates published on the site. Unfortunately, some of the statistics given are tenuous at best. For example, the report contains a claim that 65% of Twitter users are under the age of 25, but as Bhargava points out, less than 1% of Twitter users actually disclose their age.

Putting together meaningful statistics on Twitter is an admirable, but near impossible task. There are simply too many variables, and not enough data to go on; Twitter’s minimalist approach doesn’t give analysts much to go on. Further, as David Pogue recently pointed out, users can easily change their usernames, significantly muddying the water.

So, what do you think – can we trust the numbers that are put out by social media analysis companies? Is this information useful, or is it akin to reading tea leaves?