In a remarkable acknowledgement to the micro-blogging service, this article about the Mumbai tweets indicates that Indian authorities are appealing to tweeters not to provide strategic information lest they tip off the terrorists.

The power of Twitter can be seen in a Twitter search for ‘Mumbai’. To perform the search, go to http://search.twitter.com/ and type in the word ‘Mumbai‘ into the search field. The resulting page will be a continuous stream of comments generated by anyone posting on Twitter with the hashcode ‘#mumbai’.

Basically you will get a real time stream of comments from people in and around the events; citizen reporters giving the news raw and uncut.

Comments seem to include eye witness accounts of live action, from people who are reporting on what they see in real time. The action is fast and furious, and more exciting at times than watching events unfold on TV.

Twitter is a powerful tool, not only for watching events unfold around the world, but also to perform research on aspects of your social marketing strategy. With a real time stream of feedback, comments, and information about your product, your competitor’s products, and related trends, the amount of instant feedback you can collect is truly amazing.

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Gender differences on the Internet are nearly neck-and-neck, albeit for differing reasons. You will find that 78 percent of U.S. adult males used the Internet last year, while an only slightly lower number of female adults used the Internet, at 75 percent. Trends indicate that women are gaining in areas of purchasing online.

The largest age group using the Internet is the ‘Y’ generation, or people aged 18-30 at a comprehensive 91 percent. In descending order, the trailing age groups are:

• 91 percent of ages 18-30 ‘Y-Gens’
• 90 percent of ages 31-42 ‘X-Gens’
• 79 percent of ages 43-61 ‘Baby Boomers’
• 56 percent of ages 62-71 ‘Matures’
• 29 percent of ages 71 and up. ‘Finally Enjoying Life’

These stats (above) are a clear indication that the Internet is a very influential place among our money-spending ‘X’ and ‘Y’ generations, and a remarkably well-used tool for our research and service-seeking Baby Boomers and Matures. I am blown away that nearly 30 percent of our older population are using the Internet.

If you are marketing to a specific cultural demographic, you will be interested to know that 78 percent of white people use the Internet, 68 percent of blacks, and 75 percent of latinos. Spanish translation is a serious consideration. I am surprised the Asian-American culture was not represented in this study.

Education has a correlation to Internet use right down the line, with advanced college degree holders using the Internet at 93 percent. The ’some college’ crowd are at 86 percent, and high school graduates are at 69 percent. As you would expect, adults who did not complete high school are not using the Internet as much, with only a 41 percent showing.

Geography was also measured, with more people from suburban areas using the Internet the most at 80 percent. 76 percent of urban dwellers use the Internet, and 66 percent of rural adults use the Internet.

No matter how you slice it, the new addage is true: Throw that phone book away, and look to market your business on the Internet where (generally speaking) 80 percent of your customers are looking for information about their needed products and services.

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