Are Twitter ages an important factor in what we tweet? While playing with my granddaughter several years ago back in 2015, I posed this very question. It made me curious to explore the different types of content being shared between generations on social media platforms such as Twitter and how that may be affected by Twitter age restrictions for youngsters.
My curiosity about Twitter ages led me down a path full of new discoveries for you that I’ve updated here in 2023.
Twitter Ages: The Youngest and Oldest on Twitter
It was difficult to find out who is the youngest person on Twitter but I came across this interesting piece years ago about tweeting from the womb. Now that is an early start.
Many of you may remember the oldest person. She was 104 and on both Twitter and Facebook. Her name was Ivy Bean. She was an inspiration to many who thought they were too old to be on social media.
What Is The Average Age Demographic On Twitter?
35-44 is the average age of a person on Twitter today but that average age is rising. And Twitter has a more male demographic than female according to Business of Apps on Twitter.
The younger audience is leaning towards Instagram and TikTok these days with short-form videos vs. Twitter. (Maybe Twitter will find a way to compete in that arena.)
It is important to know how to target your tweet to different age groups and to know what they tweet about.
What Is The Twitter Age Restriction?
Twitter has an age restriction of 13 years or older to register on their social media platform. However, it is not enforced by birth certificates. If you signed up before the age of 13 your account may be suspended. Once you reach 13 Twitter may reinstate your account.
However, with that in mind, there have been some youngsters on Twitter over the years. (Of course, some children may have been signed up by their parents, etc.)
There is a Twitter account called @HonestToddler and they tweet from the mind of a toddler. It’s a funny and quirky Twitter handle. As you can see below you can get creative with your tweet to younger people.
Every adults dream is to lie in bed in cotton pajamas and play on their phone until nightfall.
— Bunmi Laditan (@HonestToddler) July 23, 2015
Sharpie is a brand that caters to kids and teens on Twitter. Here are some examples:
RT @KernanFarms: Our Little Jacks love a @Sharpie! pic.twitter.com/6jz70W25Fn <tx for the reminder. #Halloween right around the corner! — Sharpie (@Sharpie) September 19, 2013
You can read more about their tactics for targeting teens on Social Media Examiner Sharpie case study. This can help you with your tweet to younger ages on the Twitter network.
Twitter In The Classroom
Many teachers have been using Twitter in the classroom. They started to use Twitter in elementary school. It doesn’t mean each kid has their own Twitter handle. Many likes. Mrs. L’s class uses it but the kids send their tweets to their teacher back in 2020.
Mrs. L. then had to approve the tweet before it goes live. It was used as a connecting, sharing, and learning tool. It is a way for teachers to bring the world into the classroom. They can ask authors and politicians questions and get answers back.
Some teachers use Twitter to share calendar events with parents. They can also use Twitter to engage with parents. Some classrooms use Twitter to track the weather and the stock market.
Teachers and students can get very creative with different ways to use Twitter in the classroom today.
Older Twitter Ages Who Tweet
@QuiltingMuriel was 96 years of age and her tweets were quite funny. She was an inspiration to follow.
You know we oldies invented recycling, been doing it for over 80 years. It started with Xmas fruit cake & bad birthday gifts… — Muriel B (@QuiltingMuriel) August 20, 2015
No one knows how many days we each have left, so every Monday is a gift and a joy! #MondayMotivation
— Muriel B (@QuiltingMuriel) August 10, 2015
Notice the difference between the younger peep and older peep tweets? The younger folks use more images (and video) whereas the older peeps may not know how to insert images or videos into their posts.
Older people tend to use more text-only tweets. I saw this with other older peeps in the Twitter stream. But this is very interesting in 2023 as linkless tweets rank better in the algorithm. You can see this in your own tweet impressions as I share mine below for you:
However, if your tweet is targeted at younger people be sure to include images and or a short video.
What Are Other Stats of Twitter Users?
Other statistics show that more college-educated people use Twitter today than ever. Those that earn over $75,000 also are top users on Twitter. (Stats from Pew Research, good to know for your tweets). Most tweeters also live in urban areas. 36% of users use Twitter daily.
The proportion of Twitter users who visit the site daily is around 52%.
We must remember too that there are many more social networking sites since Twitter was introduced back in 2006. Since then, some people may have found Twitter to be boring. Others are just not logging in daily but viewing tweets via Google search now.
However, 96% of users now log in at least monthly to their Twitter accounts. The biggest users are from the United States, followed by Japan.
Your Turn On Twitter Ages
Do you know some very young or older people on Twitter? Do you think age matters with your tweet today? I’d love to know your thoughts in the comments below.
She has 30+ years of experience in marketing/advertising with 11 years of experience in content marketing, social media, blogging, and SEO.
You can purchase her eBook about Twitter on Amazon.
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Twitter was an important social media platform for people as it was where they could share their thoughts, feelings, and ideas with the world. It fell of a cliff quite a few years ago, but now seems to be making a comeback. It’ll be interesting to see where it goes from here.
Welcome to Inspire TO Thrive. Yes, it was great when those types of things could be shared without being censored. I mostly love what Elon has been doing with the network, time will tell for sure. Thanks for your input on this one and have a great day.
Wow, this is a fantastic article! I love how you’ve broken down the different age groups and the types of tweets that resonate with them. The insights and tips you’ve shared are incredibly valuable for anyone looking to improve their social media presence. I also appreciate how you’ve backed up your advice with data and research. Thank you for sharing your expertise on this topic, I will definitely be putting these suggestions into practice! #InspiringToThrive
Hi Charlie Brown, welcome to Inspire To Thrive. I almost nixed your comment as you don’t have a gravatar, I recommend you get one! Thanks for your appreciation of this post as I did quite a bit of research when I updated this post almost a decade later. SO much has changed not only on Twitter but with social media overall. Have a great day Charlie.
Great post Lisa,
I never thought about age bracket on Twitter and i never believed that there are much younger people there too. But i do not think for sure that age affects tweets.
Thanks for sharing.
Hi Theodore, nice to see you back here. Oh yes, younger people indeed are using Twitter and the fastest growing segment is those over 45 now. I think it affects how they tweet, like the older folks not using images because maybe they don’t know how to attach them, etc. where younger people know how to do it without even thinking about it. Thanks for coming by and have a great day!
Hi Lisa,
Interesting post and a very stunning topic!
I have just finished reading this and the question is still flying around my mind “Does age really matter for tweets?”. I am turning 18 this year and never felt any significant discrimination in the past years.
Maybe this can vary from niche to niche. For example, if someone is on real state business or niche, people will assume that the person is fairly aged. On the other hand, if someone is in video games niche, he is supposed to be not very old.
To tell you from another view, the businesses that want aged customers may not get profit from young or teens (ex: car niche) and the vice versa. So in this case, tweets may vary.
– Abrar
Hi Abrar, thank you. Excellent points you make here. Different niches do appeal to different ages. And how they can tweet them differently, younger ones prefer images and olde peeps prefer more text for more info. Thanks for coming by and taking the time to commemnt on this one. I hope you have a great weekend ahead Abrar.
Just on the weekend, my daughter was under my desk and asked for a pen. When I looked down she had drawn a computer keyboard on a box under my desk. So cute ;-D Sorry your opening sentence just reminded me of that.
Anyway, nice stats on twitter. I never realised we were so old 😉
However, I do wish there were more conversation and less spruiking on twitter. It’s those twitter SPAM bots that ruin everything. Auto-posting should be banned.
Hi Hammo, welcome to Inspire to Thrive! How cute, how old is she? I don’t notice as many spam bots as I used to on Twitter, you know you can report them too? Auto posting is a great tool though for marketers, but you can always mute them if they get annoying for you. Thanks for coming by and have a great weekend Hammo.
Hi Lisa, Love these tweets! You’re right, anyone at any age can use Twitter. My father uses Twitter and he’s 88! He uses it as a news source and never tweets.
The thing about Twitter is that you can use it as a social media site, news source, communication venue and research tool. Twitter really serves many purposes.
My favorite part about Twitter is you can pretty much get anyone’s attention. Tweet a company about a product or service and you probably will get a reply, if they’re on top of their social media (which they should be).
Thanks for letting the world know that Twitter really is for everyone!
Hi Carolyn, thank you. I thought they really drove a point on this post. That is amazing at 88 – not many at that age can understand Twitter or how to use a computer. I love how Twitter serves those many purposes, many miss that point. That’s another great reason I love Twitter, I got quicker response from Airlines and cable companies than waiting on the phone. You are welcome and thanks for coming by Carolyn, enjoy the rest of your week.
Hi Lisa,
I am a bit beyond the avg age; oh no! LOL…..age has less to do with anything online since anybody from a young kid to 100 year old can hit keys on a laptop, or mobile device. That is the equalizing factor in the online world.
VERY fun account up top, the toddler parody one that is 😉
Ryan
Hi Ryan, LOL. The key is what do they hit at various ages? I think older folks find it harder to insert images whether they are desktop or tablet. Younger folks know from day 1 how to do so much more with technology. They don’t have to THINK abnout it. Thanks for coming by Ryan and I hope things are well on the island 🙂
Hey Lisa,
Such a great topic.
Its kind of interesting thing to think about. I mean its hard to say that older people tweet more frequently or younger. But for sure older people have life experience so they tweet more genuinely than younger people.
I have seen many young people who just make fun of other’s tweets. How can they do that?
I agree with your point that young people add images and older people don’t. May be they don’t know how to add an image?
But still I prefer to get tweets from older people.
Thanks for the post.
Enjoy your day.
~Ravi
Hi Ravi, Did you change your blog’s name? Interesting point about older folks tweeting more genuinely. Sad how younger people can do that on social media but before social media they did in person, right? I think that is correct, they do not know how to add images from different sources, etc. Or it takes them too long to do it. You are welcome and have a great rest of the week Ravi. I appreciate you coming by.
Hi Lisa,
No, I have the same blog. Why did you ask such question? Is there any change or something which made you to think that I had changed the name of my blog?
~Ravi
Hi Ravi, It just looked like a different name to me, I guess it’s been a while. I am sorry about that.
Hi Lisa,
Wow..I find these stats amazing! Also how we tweet at different ages. I think I’m showing my age lol. I do try to do an image here and there…maybe I’m getting there.
I was so impressed to find out that they are using Twitter in schools. Seems like a wonderful idea to me. I was thinking of my mom who is a Facebook Troll lol. I was just trying to teach her Twitter but she just couldn’t get it. 84 years old and still trying to keep up with technology. Gotta give her credit.
Her grandkids moved from Facebook to Snapchat…yet another learning lesson!
Thanks for this information. I think I’m going to be more mindful on Twitter.
-Donna
Hi Donna, that is funny. I know having images and pictures does increaase the retweets and fav’s so keep them coming! That was my mom too, she got on Twitter to keep up with the political stuff. But it was hard to teach her as she just learned Facebook. Funny, the kids don’t want to be where their grandparents or parents are. Thanks for coming by Donna and taking the time to comment. Enjoy the rest of your week!
Hey Lisa,
This was quite interesting.
You know I work in a school district and I hear different conversations everyday day from 5 year olds, high school and adults.
I can only imagine the cionversations between each age group on twitter. I guess I falk between the adolescent and older retired adults. I tend to send more text based tweets a d it’s rare for me to send images.
I will have to ask if so.e of the teachers use twitter for their classes. I think it would be interesting to see how they engage the students and manage the classrooms if they do.
Thanks for sharing Lisa! Have a great week!
Hi Sherman, nice to see you here. Interesting about you working in a school district, maybe you could do a follow up post after asking around? You are welcome to do it as a guest post here if you like. Why do you not use more images with your tweets Sherman? Thanks for coming by and taking the time to comment. Have a great rest of the week Sherman!
Hey Lisa,
Yet another nice article from you. I have been following your for few days, was just waiting your a new post. Come to this article, I thing age plays an important factor in writing tweets. Like an old man can’t think as much as accurate than a young person or a kid in terms of writing tweets just like “Honest Toddler” as you have mentioned above.
Thank you
Hi Lisa,
Great post! That’s really interesting to see how people are getting younger and older on social media. My father is 78 years old, and he uses Facebook quite a bit. He has his Twitter account, but he doesn’t use it anymore. On Facebook, he posts pictures and posts. He loves it! He is very at ease with all the technology. He even has his own cell phone.
I was surprised to see that they teach Twitter in school. That’s impressive! And Muriel B is really cool and funny! I admire her to be tech savvy at her age. That’s so great!
Thanks for sharing this with us! Have a great weekend! 🙂
Hi Nataly, thank you. That is great that your dad uses Facebook. My dad (88) quit when he saw some family drama on it. But he emails and uses excel and word. Yes, it’s great that Twitter can be used in the classroom. So when kids turn 13 they will know how to use Twitter. She is too funny, I really enjoyed looking at her tweets and followed her too. You are welcome and I hope you have a great weekend as well Nataly.
Hey Lisa,
Now that was fun and interesting.
If I remember correctly, the youngest kid I’ve met online to date was 13 but he was blogging. I have a feeling he was on Twitter as well. I envy the kids today actually, they grew up with a computer and some form of technology in their hands darn it. Heck, when I was a kid I never even got my own phone.
I do believe though that technology is a great way to communicate with others. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Google+, whichever one they feel the most comfortable using or most of their friends or connections are using as well.
Now Muriel’s tweets crack me up and you’re right, she is funny. At that age I can imagine the things that she shares but I so admire her for being on Twitter. My Mom is 90 and although she has gotten on the internet she mostly just checks certain accounts and emails. But boy does that woman email. LOL!!! I’m getting jokes and stuff from her daily.
Thanks for sharing these statistics with us Lisa. I guess I never gave it much thought about the age group wanting to receive information differently because most of the audience I’m targeting is still older. Not all of them of course and I’ve heard complaints when I add too many images to tweets although they say they stand out more. I think it depends on the person as well.
Great post and will be sharing for sure. Love this one Lisa and you have a great day and a fun weekend too.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, I’m glad you found it fun and interesting. I know how you feel, I didn’t have a mobile phone either til I was over 30. Yes, technology can be used for the good as well as the bad that we too often hear about.
That is cool about your mom, my uncle who is 92 still emails stuff too and it cracks me up. Good for them, right?
You are welcome Adrienne. Yes, I discovered it in the research but I think with seniors they may not know how to insert the images into their tweets. I may have to tweet a few and ask them soon.
I will get to see my granddaughter one more time Sunday before she heads back west. She has been a lot of fun. She actually turns 1 tomorrow. I hope you enjoy your weekend as well!
TGIF my friend! What an amazing post! I can’t believe that they are teaching Twitter in school! Elementary school at that! Holy cow! I definitely hope these accounts are protected for their own safety. Are there parental controls for Twitter?
In my Freelance time, I was thinking of making a Twitter for beginners course for seniors and hope to introduce my town, who is very Twitter and Social Media illiterate, to the world of Twitter as well as Facebook. I’d really like to see some of the “senior” accounts to see what they are tweeting about.
Very interesting post so thank you for enlightening us! You know I’ll be passing it along! Have a fab day!
B
Hi Brenda, oh yes, finally the weekend. Oh yes, of course they are teaching them young how to use social media. I think it’s important for them to learn as they get older. Yes many are protected and many accounts the teachers control only. I think having them protected is the same as having parental controls.
That’s really cool Brenda – a course for seniors on it. I loved reading some of those senior tweets, too funny.
You are welcome and thanks for sharing. I hope you have a wonderful weekend Brenda!