In 2008, one in four Americans got their news online. Today, 82% of Americans get their news online.

In 2008, Twitter had 3.4 million users. Today, Twitter has 28 million users.

In 2008, there were 500,000 tweets total across all debates. On Wednesday night, there were 10.1 million tweets in the hour and a half during the debate.

After Wednesday night’s debate, there can be no doubt the influence of social media in our conversations and interactions with each other and the world around us.

But in the case of news, it is Twitter specifically that is capturing our time and attention. With 77% of the debate conversation occurring on Twitter and only 6% of it on Facebook, it is apparent that Twitter is where more global conversations happen and where tracking is most accessible. Facebook is trending for more personal conversations and achievements.

Source: Twitter

Why is Twitter so popular for news and what should brands consider as they plan their Twitter content strategies?

  • Twitter moves fast. There are a lot of people generating a lot of conversation on the channel, so the posts move through very quickly. If you want your message heard, you have to post often. Twitter is not a “one post a day” channel like Facebook.
  • With so much moving through, to stand out you have to be interesting. Users are literally skimming headlines when it comes to Twitter. Announcing a store opening or a showing a picture of your staff working is probably not going to cut through the clutter in a channel like Twitter.
  • Twitter is about what is happening right now. Your content has to be relevant to the conversations people are having on the channel in the moment: watch the hashtags and use them accordingly, reply to comments, jump in and talk to people.
  • Measure twice, cut once (to quote Jeremy Harper): when tweeting for a brand, it is doubly important to double check the message before hitting the “post” button. Did you see what happened to Kitchen Aid on debate night? Don’t become the brand #fail example the day after a major Twitter event.

I talked to KATV this morning about the Twitter explosion during the presidential debate on Wednesday night. Watch the video here.