As part of my Twitter survey, I’ve been asking non-Twitter users about their perceptions of Twitter. I’ve now got sixty responses from people who’ve never used Twitter. The findings suggest that non-users really don’t have a clue what Twitter is. They’re not sure whether it’s more like a blog, Facebook, IM, email, or an RSS feed. There are a few trends, but not terribly strong ones.
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The chart below summarizes the responses to the question “What is Twitter like?”
Note, first and foremost, that the percentage axis only goes to 50%. The highest level that any answer got was 45%, meaning that there was a wide range of answers from users and not a lot of common agreement at all.
Take a look a the green line. For every answer– “Is Twitter like Facebook,” “Is Twitter like email,” “Is Twitter like IM/Chatting,” etc.–about a third of users were ambivalent, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
The strongest reaction at all was a positive response, with about 45% of users somewhat agreeing that Twitter is like a blog. Since Twitter has been marketed as a microblogging platform, that makes sense. The next strongest reaction was a negative one, with about a third of users strongly disagreeing that Twitter is like email.
Here’s another way of looking at the data. I’ve combined “Strongly disagree” and “Somewhat disagree” into one category: “Disagree.” I’ve done likewise with “Strongly agree” and “Somewhat agree”:
Non-Twitter users are pretty evenly split as to whether Twitter is like Facebook. They aren’t sure at all. A small majority agree it’s like a blog. They are again quite split on whether it’s like IM, with somewhat more agreeing than disagreeing. They are quite definite that Twitter is not like email. And they are again pretty split on whether it’s like an RSS feed.
I also asked non-users what they expected to gain from using Twitter. The chart below summarizes the responses:
Again, what’s notable is the scale. Although I showed 100%, the highest agreement we get is only about 50%. And at a glance, you can see that the answers are all across the board–literally.
However, about 50% of users do agree that Twitter would help them express themselves…and about 50% agree it would help them have fun…and about 50% agree it would help them learn about events. About 40% agree it would help them stay in touch with friends and family.
The following charts show some of the areas where there is the greatest consensus. The lighter the shade of blue, the more agreement.
A pretty sizeable portion of non-Twitter users believe Twitter would help them express themselves, 58%.
45% of these non-users believe Twitter would help them stay in touch with people.
A good chunk of non-users, 48%, believe Twitter will help them learn about events.
What’s interesting about the business/career question, is the level of disagreement. 59% of non-Twitter users disagree that Twitter can help them build their business or career. About a third are ambivalent, and only 7% agree even somewhat that Twitter can be helpful in this way.
Here’s the really interesting part. I asked people who use Twitter on a regular basis what they actually found Twitter useful for. Below are the answers for non-Twitter users compared with those of Twitter users:
The contrast is quite striking! Regular Twitter users apparently see Twitter as valuable across a wide range of areas. But often not the same areas as non-Twitter users. Moreover, Twitter users agreed in larger percentages with many of the statments.
While non-users actually thought Twitter wouldn’t be helpful for career/business, most Twitter users thought it was useful. A large 75% of Twitter users found Twitter useful to find information. While only a third of non-users thought it would be helpful in that area. A much larger number of Twitter users found it helpful to learn about new things and hot topics, as well. Twitter users even found Twitter more useful for meeting new people than non-users expected it to be.
On that other hand, regular Twitter users did not see it as useful for reconnecting with old friends. In fact, though it’s not shown in this chart, a full 48% disagreed that it was useful for reconnecting. And they generally didn’t see it as useful for staying in touch with people, either. In fact, 40% actively disagreed that it was useful for staying touch, with another 28% expressing ambivalence. That marks a big contrast with the expectations of non-Twitter users.
I keep coming back to Twitter’s retention-rate issue. A website with the kind of hype that Twitter has had might be similar to a major motion picture. The preview can make or break a movie, by projecting a misleading image that draws in the wrong demographic. Those viewers, disappointed because it wasn’t the movie they expected, give it bad word-of-mouth.
How many of the users with abandoned Twitter accounts expected something else from Twitter than what they got? How many thought it would help them stay in touch with people, reconnect, or just have fun and find that Twitter isn’t really doing those things? How many just don’t get the paradigm (as suggested
by my usability study) and just don’t stick around long enough to begin to get the many benefits which regular Twitter users apparently get.
What does seem clear is that those who do stick with Twitter consider it immensely useful in a variety of ways. And I’d say that bodes well for Twitter, as a business.
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