RealPolitech: Pursuit, possession and application of people power. Online and off.

Silicon Alley Insider featured a chart from Nielsen in a post demonstrating Twitter use among those under age 24.

There are many reasons why the numbers may play out this way. The majority of this age group is still in junior high, high school or college. Many of them have yet to enter the workplace, or if they have, may not be in a position to use Twitter at the frequency that someone over age 25 could use it.

I think it goes back to the same principles that were at play when the 25+ crowd was in school. You passed notes to your friends and spent hours on the phone after school gabbing with your friends on the phone. Young people seek social recognition and continuous feedback from their peers. While some would argue that the rate that some people use a platform like Twitter may be just as fast and responsive as sending a text message, for a twelve year old this is likely not the case unless they are sitting in front of a computer at home.

Additionally, although there are ways to text through Twitter, the Twitter clients available require a data plan to use such a client. I use Tweetdeck because I have an iPhone. Many people under 24 may not be footing the bill for their cellphone plans, or if they are, cannot afford data plans. Mom and Dad may be ok with putting their kid on their cellphone plan and paying for some text messaging, but a data plan is a whole other thing.

Some of the most successful marketing campaigns, including a Milk campaign featuring singer Miley Cyrus, were popular because those under 24 live, breathe and text. While the campaign set up a website, the primary driver for teens was the text messaging part of this campaign.

We underutilize mobile in campaigns and fundraising. While in other countries with less access to the Internet it has proven very successful, we do not utilize it to the extent we could here in the U.S. Since those under 24 may not remember life without cellphones, it is prudent to realize that each networking tool, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or mobile, can be used to mobilize different audiences for the same cause.

Digital tools are not one size fits all.

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