Last week, Twitter Finance Chief Anthony Noto, announced the company will start including “SMS fast followers” in its monthly active user tally. SMS fast followers access and use Twitter exclusively through text messages. It’s a method that is mostly employed by users in emerging markets such as India and Brazil, who cannot necessarily afford data charges, or access the internet easily.By including this group, Twitter’s audience will grow substantially in size. The inclusion should also boost its closely watched user growth, which is good for the site’s advertising value.Twitter boasted 6.4 million SMS-only users during the first quarter, which is an increase of 60% from 4 million three months prior. Including SMS-only users, Twitter’s total count would be 308 million monthly active users.With the number of people using Twitter via SMS growing so rapidly, the combination of social media and SMS is showing it’s versatility and popularity!
Prachi Bametha
Marketing Coordinator, Esendex Australia