Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace have achieved massive popularity and growth over the past few years, but micro-blogging service Twitter may soon surpass all of them.
According to new data from the ComScore Media Metrix, the number of Twitter visitors jumped 5 million to 9.3 million in February – a growth rate of 131%.
ComScore industry analyst Andrew Lipsam has written in a blog post that Twitter’s massive growth rate is being fuelled by media attention.
“There may certainly be some merit to that,” he said. “It seems you can’t get through a typical newscast anymore without some mention of Twitter.”
Lipsam also says that there is a strong correlation between the use of Twitter and interest in popular news websites. He says that while 17% of the total internet population visited CNN.com in March, 38% of Twitter users did the same.
The ComScore data also shows that while 15.2% of the total US internet population visited MSNBC, about 32.2% of Twitter users visited the site.
He also says that recent Twitter controversies covered in the popular news media, such as the first reports of the crashing of US Airways flight 1549 in the Hudson River, are driving the site’s growth.
“If you watched the news this past week, you might’ve heard that Newt Gingrich levied criticism of President Obama’s response to the Somali pirate stand-off over Twitter. I mean, we’re talking about the highest levels of government here, and a micro-blogging site is being used as a top politician’s primary media outlet?”
Lipsam also says that the site will continue to grow as it associates itself with breaking news and current events.
“Like it or not, Twitter is quickly revolutionising the way our entire news ecosystem operates, from journalist to consumer, and blurring the lines in between,” he said.
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Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
