Twitter is a microblogging and social networking platform that encourages its audience to share posts (commonly known as Tweets) and engage with other users. To get the most out of marketing campaigns on the platform, it’s worthwhile to understand the Twitter statistics that make the network tick, how and why audiences use Twitter, and what’s in store for advertisers on Twitter in 2022.

Download the complete Digital 2022 report—which includes online behavior data from 220 countries—to learn where to focus your social marketing efforts and how to better target your audience.

General Twitter stats

1. Twitter’s 2021 annual revenue stands at just over $5 billion

Not a small number by any stretch of the imagination, Twitter’s revenue has increased by 37% YOY.

Twitter has lofty goals for the future, and the company plans to set its revenue targets even higher for 2023 to a massive $7.5 billion.

2. The most popular Twitter account is @BarackObama

The former US President holds court with over 130,500,000 followers. Pop megastar Justin Bieber is the second most popular person on Twitter, followed by Katy Perry, Rhianna, and Cristiano Ronaldo.

3. YouTube is the most popular brand account on Twitter

Okay, yes, we thought it might be @Twitter, but nope, it’s @YouTube with 73,900,000 followers.

The @Twitter handle is actually in third place with 60,600,000 followers, and @CNNBRK (CNN Breaking News) takes second place with 61,800,000 followers, respectively.

4. Twitter.com is the 9th most visited website globally

In 2021, twitter.com saw 2.4 billion sessions, with 620 million of these unique. This shows that people come back to the Twitter website repeatedly.

It also tells us that not everyone uses the Twitter app on their mobile device or tablet, which is something to keep in mind when you’re optimizing your campaigns.

5. Twitter is the world’s 7th favorite social media platform

The site ranks above Messenger, Telegram, Pinterest, and Snapchat in favorability for adults aged 16-64.

WhatsApp is the most popular social media platform, followed by Instagram and Facebook.

Source: Hootsuite’s 2022 Digital Trends Report

Twitter user stats

6. Twitter’s user count is expected to grow upwards of 329 million in 2022

In 2020, eMarketer predicted that Twitter would see a 2.8% growth, but the pandemic changed everything. So in October, they revised their 2020 forecast to a growth of 8.4%—a considerable increase from their original forecast.

Fast-forward to 2022, and eMarketer predicts that the number of Twitter users will grow by 2% and then continue on a slight downward trend and hit 1.8% growth in 2023 and 1.6% in 2024.

7. One quarter of US adults use Twitter

This level of usage is similar to WhatsApp and Snapchat. In comparison, 40% of US adults surveyed by Pew Research Center say they use Instagram, and 21% use TikTok.

8. 30% of Twitter’s audience are women

The microblogging site is clearly favored more with men, who make up the majority (70%) of its users.

These demographics are essential to understand as they’ll help you create more specific and highly targeted marketing campaigns.

For example, if you’re a women’s fashion brand, spending your advertising dollars on Twitter might not be the best channel given the lower demographic of female users.

9. 42% of Twitter users have a college education

Twitter has the second-highest educated user base in America. 33% of Twitter’s audience have some college, and 25% are in the high school or less cohort.

The most educated audience on social media is LinkedIn, with 56% of respondents saying they have a college education.

10. Twitter is one of the most liberal social media platforms

When it comes to democrats and republicans, Twitter leans more towards the left. 65% of the platform’s user base identifies as or leans toward democrat. Twitter is only beaten by Reddit, whose audience is almost 80% democrat.

The platform with the largest volume of republicans was Facebook, with 46% of the social media platform’s audience leaning or identifying with the republican ideology.

Source: Pew Research

11. Only 0.2% of Twitter’s audience are exclusive to the platform

Almost all Twitter users also get their social media needs met with other platforms. 83.7% also use Facebook, 80.1% use YouTube, and 87.6% are on Instagram.

12. Twitter users generally have a higher income

85% of Twitter’s audience earn more than $30,000 and 34% earn $75,000 or above. This signals that around a third of the platform’s audience has high spending power, so think to consider this when you’re crafting your campaigns and content.

Source: Pew Research

13. After Twitter banned Donald Trump, the platform’s user base jumped by 21%

According to research by Edison, before the ban, 43% of US adults aged 18 or above said they use Twitter. However, after the social networking site disqualified then-President Donald Trump on January 8th, 2021, 52% of the same cohort said they use Twitter.

Twitter usage stats

14. 25% of U.S adult Twitter users account for 97% of all U.S Tweets

This means that around a quarter of Twitter’s user base accounts for nearly 100% of the platform’s content, which is kind of mind-blowing when you think about it!

This statistic also shows that the core user base on Twitter is highly active and engaged with the platform.

Source: Pew Research Center

15. The average user spends 5.1 hours a month on Twitter

A little over five hours is more than Snapchat (3 hours per month) and Messenger (3 hours per month). The social media platform with the highest time spent was YouTube, with adults spending a massive 23.7 hours per month consuming video content on the channel.

16. One-fifth of Twitter users under 30 visits the site too frequently to keep track

We’ve all been there. You’re head down at work, and then before you know it, your cell phone is in hand, or you’ve clicked onto Twitter.com on your desktop for a leisurely scroll. For marketers, this signals that the under 30 crowds are active, frequent users of the platform, and you should plan campaigns that attract and engage this demographic.

17. Almost half of Twitter’s audience consumes news regularly on the platform

With world news coming in thick and fast nowadays, it’s perhaps not surprising that many Americans are looking to get their news outside of regular outlets.

Source: Pew Research Center

For brands, this could mean publishing timely, accurate news stories to compete and align with how the Twitter audience uses the platform.

18. 46% of Twitter users say that using the platform has helped them to understand world events

And 30% of people said that Twitter has made them more politically aware. But, on the flip side, 33% of those surveyed said that the site hosts inaccurate information, and 53% think that misleading information is a continual major problem on the site.

For marketers, this goes back to trust. You’ll need to ensure that the Tweets you send are accurate and use the platform to position your brand or company as a trusted resource.

Twitter for business stats

19. 16% of internet users aged 16-64 use Twitter for brand research

Around the same number of people also use instant messaging and live chatbots to conduct research online.

For marketers, this means that you need to keep your brand account up to date. Of course, not everyone needs to post five or six times a day, but if audiences are searching for brands online and scoping them out, it’ll help your credibility if your account is active and regularly posting valuable content.

20. 54% of Twitter’s audience are more likely to purchase new products

Something to consider when you’re crafting a Twitter ad strategy is how can you make this product or service something people will instantaneously buy?

21. Hop on Twitter spaces to drive sales volume (yes, really!)

If you’re a brand looking to make waves on Twitter, get involved with Twitter Spaces, Twitter’s Clubhouse alternative. Twitter says that “just a 10% rise in conversation has led up to a 3% increase in sales volume”.

So why not incorporate hosting a Twitter Spaces conversation and build a community to help drive sales?

Twitter advertising stats

22. Ads on Twitter get into people’s heads

26% of people spend more time looking at ads on Twitter vs. other leading platforms. Does this mean that ads on Twitter come across as organic posts and people aren’t aware they’re reading an ad?

Something to test in your Twitter marketing strategy.

23. People will spend 6-minutes per day on Twitter in 2022

Time is short, people! So count this as your warning that your creative on Twitter needs to stand out and get noticed by your audience as they’re scrolling through the app.

24. Twitter’s CPM is the lowest out of all the major platforms

Running ads on Twitter is fairly cheap and won’t destroy your ad budget. The average CPM is $6.46. That’s 78% lower than Pinterest’s, which is $30.00 CPM.

25. Ad revenue on Twitter exceed $1.41 billion, an increase of 22% YOY

More people are turning to run ads on Twitter, and this number is expected to continually increase in 2022.

Perhaps it’s time to get in on the Twitter advertising action before the space becomes overly saturated or audiences become immune to Twitter ads.

26. Monetizable daily active users (mDAU) grew by 13% to 217 million in Q4 2021

There are 217 million monetizable daily active users on Twitter. And this number is only set to increase in 2022 as the company emphasizes performance advertising across the platform’s user base.

27. 38 million of the mDAUs came from the US

Americans seriously love Twitter. The grand ol’ USA is where Twitter is the most popular, with over 77 million users across the country.

Twitter’s fandom is closely followed by Japan and India, with 58 and 24 million people logging into the platform.

28. Twitter is more popular with millennials than Gen-Z

In 2022, Millennials will be aged 26-41, so craft your creative carefully and ensure it’s aligned with the interests and needs of this age group.

29. Twitter ads reach 5.8% of the world population over age 13

This isn’t the highest figure, but it’s super important to remember that Twitter is a relatively niche platform and that 5.8% of people could well be your engaged target audience, depending on your business.

30. Twitter’s First View feature increases video viewing time by 1.4x

Twitter is always looking to innovate and launch new product features. One of their most impactful tools is First View, which shows your Twitter video ad to audiences when they first log in and begin their browsing session.

This is prime real estate for marketers and advertisers to ensure that your audience engages with your video content. For example, according to Twitter themselves, one brand ran a First View campaign during a global sporting event to coincide with a TV ad campaign and saw a 22% increase in reach on the platform.

Twitter publishing stats

31. There are over 500 million Tweets sent per day

Broken down even further, that equals 6,000 Tweets per second, 350,000 Tweets per minute, and around 200 billion Tweets per year.

32. People Tweet about soccer more than any other sport

70% of Twitter users said they regularly watch, follow, or are interested in soccer, and with the FIFA World Cup coming up in late 2022, the world will be in a “football-frenzy.” So now really is the time to learn the difference between Alexander-Arnold and Zinedine Zidane.

Marketers need to have their finger on the pulse and plan campaigns that fit around the World Cup and take advantage of the conversations and engagement that’ll be happening in November and December.

33. 77% of Twitter users feel more positive about brands that are community and society focused

During the COVID-19 global pandemic, community mattered more than ever, and consumers noticed. For brands, this means showcasing your impact on the world and what you’re doing to support local and global communities.

Save time managing your Twitter presence by using Hootsuite to schedule Tweets (including video Tweets), reply to comments and DMs, and monitor key performance stats. Try it free today.

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