Twitter believed to have hit 4m Australian users as local office turns one
Karen Stocks
Twitter is understood to have reached the four million user mark in the Australian market but managing director Karen Stocks refused to reveal the size of its domestic audience.
Multiple senior agency executives have told Mumbrella the Australian Twitter sales team is now telling the market that there are more than four million Australian Twitter accounts, following a push by the platform on key areas such as sport, television and music. However, when asked about this Stocks, who joined the company in September, was circumspect.
“We don’t breakdown numbers at the country level”, said Stocks, before adding: “But I am very, very happy with the growth we are seeing.”
Everyone knows twitter is for the informed, Facebook for the d grade masses. I hope they don’t get too big, the quality of response on Facebook nowadays is appalling.
“We don’t breakdown numbers at the country level”, said Stocks.
So what are the ‘Twitter’ sales team doing then?
I find the claim that 4m Australians (therefore 1 in 6 people) are on Twitter slightly hard to fathom.
HOWEVER the statement “If you talk about TV for example 95 per cent of the public conversation around television happens on Twitter” is just plain ridiculous and actually ridiculing of the media industry.
Twitter Australia have been pretty smart with their growth. I’d like to see more than just sales locally, though.
Four million Australians on Twitter – I don’t think so; even the two million figure 18 months ago was ridiculous. Back then monthly activation rates were approx. 13-15%, or about 260,000 active accounts each month. Step outside your agency’s front door, walk to the next block and then ask the first person you see if they have a Twitter account? These audience figures have never been independently verified, and the fact that Twitter refuses to put anything in writing is a scandal when every other media channels are interrogated relentlessly for independent audience metrics.
Neilsen hybrid should give an accurate figure on monthly users per month … agencies subscribe to this so should know the real engagement numbers.
@Old Ways – can you repeat “Neilsen (sic) hybrid should give an accurate figure on monthly users per month” once more, I can’t wipe the smile from my face.
Wonder how many are active users?
How can we assess the viability of it as an Ad platform if we don’t know how many Aussies are on it?
@Richard – well, as accurate as their other site measurements.
@Bloz – ahem, Twitter is not for the informed. It’s a place where sycophants, wannabe comedians, fame chasers and the low IQ generally hang out. And the article claiming to have one in six Aussies as users is plain horseshit. The media places way too much credence on Twitter regarding politics and news and get lazy in thinking a recycled quote from a few twits constitutes public sentiment. See Twitter for what it is – white noise from the irrelevant minority.
They ought to be coy!
Not much use when 90% of registered users played with it once or twice, then realised Twitter is for (a) sycophants, who do the following, or (b) narcissists, who expect to be followed. There’s no (c). So 40,000 would be closer to the mark.
What a cesspool!
@Sarah hits the nail on the head
The Block I get as I see their social content shared daily, but MKR doesn’t even have a Twitter handle. To Twitter, ‘world class’ engagement = hashtag and tweets onscreen?
“Asked which media outlets were best at engaging and innovating on the social platform Stocks said she was pleased to see how Seven’s My Kitchen Rules and Nine’s The Block were creating content for the platform.”
“If you look at programs like My Kitchen Rules and The Block, and the integration they have on Twitter is really world class and they are seeing terrific engagement.”
no one uses twitter
facebook is rebranding to ‘meme factory’
life goes on
Apart from the great comments made above regarding their reluctance to breakdown audience by country (@Super, @Sarah) and active users vs accounts (@Mike) – I find it disappointing the MD of Twitter Australia calls out Kia’s real time tweet as an example.
1) That tweet was not made by Kia Australia – it was made by Kia Motors Global: https://twitter.com/Kia_Motors/statuses/424179328255918080.
2) If 23 RT’s and 19 Favourites make it “one of highest engaged tweets we’ve seen on the platform” I have serious concerns about Twitter’s ability to monitor its own platform.
If they expect agencies to really support the platform they’re going to need to be far more accurate and open in the future.
@Jack Smyth – agency money continues to flow because Twitter’s brand recognition is so high, and therefore ‘distracts’ from any difficult discussion about actual reach within a particular target group. Further, agency money plays second fiddle to the value of direct buys from the likes of betting groups.