Top Trends and Apps: How Do People Use Twitter?

My friends over at HubSpot released the latest market data that reveals which tools and services people are flocking to when communicating on Twitter.

According to the research, most people interact on Twitter using Twitter.com from their browser of choice – almost half of all users in fact. Note to hubspot, would love to see that data broken out by browser.

Second, and it’s a distant second, people are interacting on Twitter using downloaded or web-based desktop apps, which provide additional functionality beyond the basic services provided on Twitter.com. Interestingly, mobile shows a strong placement in third, just behind desktop. As mobile applications on the iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, and Palm evolve, this number will continue to swell as they rival their desktop counterparts.

Twitter Interface Type – Percentage

Web – 48.1%
Desktop – 21.8%
Mobile – 17.9%
Aggregation / Automation – 11.7%
Pictures – 0.5%

HubSpot also reviewed the top applications in the Twitterverse. No surprise, the Web continues as the dominant source for Tweets, again representing almost half of all usage. What is surprising however, is the chasm of market share between the Web and the top Twitter apps. TwitterFeed and TweetDeck follow in a distant second and third place at 9.2% and 7.3% respectively. HubSpot found that a collective of over 600 apps combine for a total of 14.5%. I would love to see the list of those apps independt of this study.

Top Twitter Interfaces Percentage

Web – 46.5%
twitterfeed – 9.2%
TweetDeck – 7.3%
txt – 4.6%
twitterrific – 4.3%
twhirl – 4.0%
TwitterFox – 4.0%
Tween – 2.0%
TwitterBerry – 1.9%
TwitterFon – 1.8%
Over 600 Others – 14.5%

Would love to see PeopleBrowsr make the list, so stay tuned…

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  • Mark Drapeau

    Thanks Brian and HubSpot. I’m not too surprised. My guess is that many people who use the web are new to Twitter. And even if and when they start using TweetDeck (or whatever), there will be more newbies to take their place.

    Another reason why people use the web is because many government and corporate computers have controls that prevent downloading novel software for security reasons. And something like Twhirl just isn’t worth bothering IT about.

    • http://www.easyrecovery.ie/ Data Recovery

      But I think using twitter is safe because twitter always have close watch on postings

  • Robb Lewis

    Thx for sharing Brian. I actually think the title is somewhat misleading. It’s really how people post to twitter, not necessarily how they use it. For example, twitterfeed is just another way to distribute awareness of my blog article. That’s different that someone reading the article and then tweeting about it.

    I would really love to see a sociological report on twitter usage (which is right up your alley :-) and also, people like me that have multiple twitter accounts, one personal and one for work, how they use them. And I don’t mean technically but how do we determine when to tweet about work related stuff on our personal accounts and non-work stuff on our business accounts.

    -Robb
    twitter: robblewis

  • Brian Solis

    Thanks Mark, good points! Thank you…

    Robb, I don’t disagree with you. It’s why I added Apps in the headline. I’ve hosted a series of discussions on the alignment of personal vs. corporate branding on Twitter. I’ll write about it soon! I’ll call it “Multiple Personality IN Order!”

  • Prokofy

    No, I’ve been on Twitter for two years and I only use it on the web. I can’t afford an i-phone or Blackberry and I don’t want that firehose on a mobile anyway, too expensive, too distracting.

    Nor do I want a constant running ticker on Twirl.

    It’s really good that you are paying attention how real people actually use something rather than listening to A-listers who blog from their i-Phones.

    So many people are reading Twitter from the web because that’s where they can make it useful and coherent, especially to be able to easily paste in links or quotations or work in other applications throughout the day. Most people aren’t A-listers jetting around to social media conferences able to gab all day — they have to work and Twitter augments their reality, it isn’t an immersive virtual reality itself.

  • Timon Weller

    Interesting stats, I would of thought there would be less for mobile apps but it is interesting to know what people do there.. :)

  • Paul Fabretti

    Always enjoyed the Hubspot guys’ approach.

    Might I add my little piece to the mix – The Top 100 Twitter apps…

    http://blendingthemix.com/2009/01/23/the-most-popular-100-twitter-applications/

  • Katelyn

    Thanks for the post! I linked to this in a blog post I wrote for Chico State’s student-managed PR agency Tehama Group Communications. It was nice to see the breakdown although I do agree with Robb Lewis in that the title was a little misleading. Nevertheless, very interesting information. Thanks and happy tweeting!

    Katelyn
    http://tehamagroupcommunications.prblogs.org/

  • http://twitter.com/Joel_Hughes Joel Hughes

    Can I state the obvious? If text usage is so little – why maintain the 140 char limit?

  • Pingback: Joel Hughes (joel_hughes) « Top Trends and Apps: How Do People Use Twitter? | PR2.0 « Chat Catcher

  • joel_hughes

    Can I state the obvious? If text usage is so little – why maintain the 140 char limit?

ABOUT ME

Brian Solis is principal at Altimeter Group, a research firm focused on disruptive technology. A digital analyst, sociologist, and futurist, Solis has studied and influenced the effects of emerging technology on business, marketing, and culture. Solis is also globally recognized as one of the most prominent thought leaders and published authors in new media. His new book, What's the Future of Business (WTF), explores the landscape of connected consumerism and how business and customer relationships unfold and flourish in four distinct moments of truth. His previous book, The End of Business as Usual, explores the emergence of Generation-C, a new generation of customers and employees and how businesses must adapt to reach them. Prior to End of Business, Solis released Engage, which is regarded as the industry reference guide for businesses to market, sell and service in the social web.

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