Twitter Exceeds 200 Million Users, Nips At Facebook's Heels

Yesterday at the Guardian Activate conference in New York, Twitter Vice President of International Strategy Katie Stanton confirmed that there are now over 200 Million registered users on Twitter. She commented that over 70% of Twitter traffic comes from outside the US, with around 25% in Japan alone. Also remarkable -but not altogether surprising- is that 40% of Twitter traffic comes from mobile phones.

Stanton noted:

Twitter isn't so much a triumph of technology, it's a triumph of humanity - connecting those stories and connecting those voices.

Stanton also noted that because the founders of Twitter (Evan Williams, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, Jack Dorsey) wanted the service to be accessible even in parts of the world with very weak mobile capability. This makes sense as Twitter was an invaluable resource for news, status updates, and communication during both the Egyptian Revolution and Japanese Earthquake & Pacific Tsunami events of this year.

Given their growth rate, it is quite possible that Twitter will catch up to Facebook within the next two years, especially considering that many people use both for different reasons. It is clear that Twitter is going to hang around for a while- I for one cannot be happier. Brevity is the soul of instantly accessible knowledge- embrace the short form and sign up. You can catch me @traklord or the site itself @tweaktown.

Chirp Chirp.