In a slick graphic called Twitter on Paper by designer Geraldo Obieta, we can see some more tidbits of information to come from Twitter’s CEO at the Chirp conference. Of interest to us mobile people is the statistic that 37% of users update from mobile.
Now, that’s cool and all, but I actually think that’s kind of low for a service that was born as an opt-in SMS forwarding service. Sure, browser-based apps like Seesmic, Tweetdeck, and Hootsuite have enabled more sedentary mass tweeting via PC, but I’m hoping Twitter’s newest initiatives in geolocation will keep the social network mobile-focused at its core. I imagine that once Twitter fully wields their own BlackBerry, iPhone and Android apps that progress in the smartphone segment will improve, but let’s be fair, most people have dumbphones; unless Twitter keeps the SMS capabilities as visible as their more whizz-pow smartphone features, the reach of their social network into the mobile crowd will continually be bottlenecked by smartphone penetration, which is a factor well beyond their control.
Another worthwhile stat is that 75% of Twitter traffic has been coming from outside the main site, meaning third-party developers are enabling the vast majority of tweeting. This is a little ironic, since Twitter’s aforementioned iPhone and Android announcements have peeved more than a couple of the developers that make such clients.