This Week On Twitter: The Typical Twitter User, Twitter As A Business Tool And Social Marketing 101

Need a little weekend reading? We’ve compiled our top ten Twitter stories of the week, which includes the latest statistics about the typical Twitter user, how Twitter is the top social network amongst Fortune 500 companies, what social consumers want from brands (but what they’re actually getting from marketers), how Twitter is helping students and a visual that asks if we’re sharing too much online. Here are our top 10 Twitter stories of the week. 1. The Typical Twitter User Is A 37 Year Old Female [STATS] The population might be aging, but not on Twitter: according to the latest statistics, Twitter users are, on average, two years younger than they were in 2010. 2. 73% Of Fortune 500s Have An Active Twitter Account [STATS] In an effort to understand how the top companies in America use social media, the University of Massachusetts has conducted an annual survey of the digital presence of the Fortune 500. And this year, Twitter is the most popular social network among the titans of industry, beating out Facebook, blogging and Pinterest. 3. What Social Consumers Want From Brands (And What They Actually Get From Marketers) [INFOGRAPHIC] Did you know that while more than three-quarters (76 percent) of marketers feel that they know what their consumers want, only about one-third (34 percent) have actually asked? This divide, coined as the perception gap by industry analyst Brian Solis, naturally presents a problem for brands looking to maximize user engagement and conversion rates on platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. For optimum results, marketers need to put their egos to one side and reach out directly to their audience – or suffer the consequences. 4. How Twitter Is Helping Students Graduate With Technology [INFOGRAPHIC] Did you know that 84 percent of schools have used Twitter to send up-to-date announcements to students? Moreover, studies have shown that students who use Twitter in the classroom achieve a higher GPA by an average of 0.5 points, and professors are now far more likely to allow laptops in the classroom than they are calculators – 98 percent of classrooms now have internet access, and 91 percent of college faculty engage in social media as part of their course work. 5. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest – Are You Sharing Too Much Online? [INFOGRAPHIC] Are you sharing too much online? Social media has empowered users to connect with friends and family, demand better products and customer service from brands and change the world, but as we become more comfortable with these tools we are exponentially relaxing any initial concerns we might have had with security. Namely, as platforms such as Twitter and Facebook become an everyday part of our lives, sharing otherwise private information about ourselves to these channels becomes the norm which, in some cases, can be hazardous. It pays to remember that with social media you’re always on camera, and anything you say or do can – and, unfortunately, often will – be used against you. 6. 92% Of U.S. Companies Have Used Social Networks For Recruitment [INFOGRAPHIC] Social media has revolutionized the business world and has quickly established itself as the primary source of recruitment for companies worldwide, and with good reason – it’s cost-effective, fast and scalable, allowing organizations of all shapes and sizes to source potential hires and easily profile their characters. Indeed, 92 percent of U.S. companies have used social networks to find new talent, and almost three-quarters (73 percent) of those surveyed have made successful hires through these channels. 7. Last Tweet From Car Crash Victim Is About Tweeting While Driving We all know that texting while driving kills – yet drivers, especially young drivers, do it all the time. And now we have a story of five young men dead in a one-car crash and a couple of tweets from one of the victims, a passenger, bragging about drinking and tweeting while driving. 8. Forget Embedding Tweets, Now You Can Embed An Entire Timeline Are you a fan of embedding tweets in posts? If so, you’ll LOVE Twitter’s new offering because it allows you to embed an entire timeline, never mind just a tweet. If you don’t know how to embed tweets (or what that even means), check out this post where we explain what embedding is and how to do it before continuing on. 9. Wedding Vows Exchanged On Twitter. Seriously, This Happened In what is quite possibly the most ridiculous (and obviously, effective) PR stunt when it comes to Twitter, to date, a couple in Turkey used Twitter to exchange wedding vows. No, they were not stationed far away from each other for work or country or some other necessity. And they were not exchanging vows remotely to combat some last-minute snafu. They were sitting right next to each other in the church. Yes, bang your head against your desk and read on. 10. HootSuite Acquires Seesmic HootSuite, the social media management system, has acquired Seesmic, who were innovators in mobile, desktop and web applications for social media, for an undisclosed amount. Seesmic chief executive Loic Le Meur had to lay off half of his staff back in March, and this buyout from HootSuite is partially a talent acquisition for the remaining roster. Users of Seesmic software will be slowly ported over to HootSuite, who say that this buyout will “further reinforce HootSuite’s position in the upper left quadrant of the Twitter Partner graph”. Did you know we have a newsletter? Sign-up to receive a daily digest of all things Twitter, sent straight to your inbox. Click here to sign up for the AllTwitter Newsletter.

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This Week On Twitter: The Typical Twitter User, Twitter As A Business Tool And Social Marketing 101

Shea Bennett

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Shea Bennett