No, it is not USA, the super hub of technological innovation and the country where Twitter was born. Neither is it India, where more than 200 million people use Internet.
It is Saudi Arabia, the country which uses Twitter more than anyone else in the world!
In a research which has surprised all and sundry, PeerReach has revealed that Internet users from Saudi Arabia, a country restricted by stringent rules and regulations, Tweets like no one else does.
Saudi Arabia’s total Internet population is 13 million as of now, and as per the study, 30% of the population or roughly 4.3 million people Tweet atleast once in a month.
Interestingly, the study doesn’t consider those active users who login to their Twitter account, but those who actively Tweet and share the content within Twitter. The study has compared total number of Internet users of all countries compared to total number of active Twitter users, and using this metrics, Saudi Arabia is world’s #1 Twitter user.
America, where most of the technical innovations happen, is placed at distant 8th, as only 11% of its total Internet population Tweet atleast once a month.
#2 in this list is Indonesia, where out of 55 million Internet users, 19% or 10.4 million users Tweet atleast once a month. Spain, Venezuela and Argentina are ranked at #3, #4 and #5.
Surprisingly, all the 5 top countries for Twitter usage relative to total Internet users are non-English speaking countries, where Internet has not penetrated deeply, and majority are mobile internet users.
India is ranked at a dismal 21st position as less than 1% of Internet users actually Tweet atleast once a month. Also countries such as Germany, Canada and France are ranked lower in this list, as Tweets from these countries are very less.
As per the study, “Twitter users are young, on average 24 years. The average male is 26 years old, the average female 22 years old. Teenagers dominate Twitter. Only 20 per cent of the tweeps are older than 30.” It is interesting to note that while teenagers are dominant on Twitter, they are fleeing away from Facebook!
The study shows that the youngest Twitter users are in the age range of 17-20, and Philippines is the country where maximum of teenagers use Twitter compared to any other country. Canada and Italy have the oldest group of Twitter users within the age group 31-38.
China is not listed in the ranking, as their Government has not allowed Twitter to setup their shop there. This makes Weibo as the unchallenged leader of microblogging in China, which has approximately 500 million users, but it is alleged that 90% of them are bots or fake profiles.
