photo via allaboutgeorge

The first Pew Research that exclusively examines Twitter users has some interesting (although, not surprising), tidbits:

• Eight percent of the American adults who use the internet are Twitter users.
• Young adults – Internet users ages 18-29 are significantly more likely to use Twitter than older adults.
• African-Americans and Latinos – Minority internet users are more than twice as likely to use Twitter as are white internet users.
• Urbanites – Urban residents are roughly twice as likely to use Twitter as rural dwellers.

Those of us knee-deep in social media have been saying pretty much the same thing that this report reveals. However, it’s nice to have the numbers to back it up. Of course, that has led to a lot of discussion about the cachet of Twitter (including that Slate article on how black people use Twitter) now that it is no longer a tech/geek space. From Aaron Smith, who co-authored the report for Pew (via Mike Swift’s article for Mercury News):

“What people are doing is using technology to maintain contact with their friends and family members,” he said. “People are using technology not to withdraw from the world, but to maintain some contact with the people around them and the things they are interested in — even when they are pressed for time, and economically stressed.”

This morning I receieved a tweet from @blockbusterbuzz:

“I have quoted your Twitterings in The Times today (p.19)”

My initial thought was spam, of course. But the profile link checked out. It turns out Michael Moran writes “mainly on popular culture” including, Blockbuster Buzz for Times Online (UK).

I asked for a link. But it’s a print-only situation. Michael was kind enough to send me a quick pic of today’s Chatter: trend, topics and tweets section.

It’s my tweet from yesterday regarding the legendary Lena Horne. Further proof that you never know who’s reading your tweets or how far they travel.

And yes, I’m willing to forgive the camel-casing of jbrotherlove.

Despite repeated requests, my friends know that I don’t use Facebook. But as someone active in social media, I keep tabs on the pulse of those who do use Facebook; especially the latest wave of concern.

I liked the way Hashim summed up his feelings today. Social networks have become ubiquitous and too few of us (myself included) are evaluating the personal and/or professional ROI associated with using these tools.

By now, the entire world knows how Kanye West made a jackass out of himself at the 2009 VMA Awards (hey, if the President can call him a jackass, who am I to argue). Predictably, Kanye’s rant set off a swarm of anti-Kanye responses — including, a slew of racially charged tweets such as this one from amber_berry:

I wonder if Amber Adamson (who knows if this is really her name) really wants this to be her first impression on a job interview? At church? At PTA? Hell, at the pumpkin pie shop?

As the real-time web gets faster, I hope we are realizing that anything can be cached on the web — forever. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be ourselves online. But we certainly need to be aware that anything we say or do (even offline) can be “picked up”, rebroadcast and remixed. So if you’re not prepared to defend it, you should think twice about what you’re doing.

This is not news, per se. But Twitter has been particularly susceptible. The ability to instantly fire off anything on your mind has generated some interesting content, to say the least. I suggest you think before you tweet. Even “protected” accounts are only as private as those you follow.

But wait. There’s more at Harry Allen’s Media Assassin.