NEW YORK—While the world waits on Elon Musk’s next move in his effort—or his reversal—to buy the social media platform Twitter, it’s a good time to take a look at 10 important facts about the popular communication tool. And thanks to Pew Research Center, here are a few interesting facts that to know about Twitter—which was founded in 2006—the next time Musk Tweets about his intentions and/or updates his $44 billion bid to buy the company. 

Indeed, the Pew Research Center this month came up with its “10 Things to Know,” but we’ve gone over the list and identified three of the most interesting. (Read all 10, according to Pew’s list, here, which is based on recent Pew Research Center surveys and other studies.)

Note, there are millions of Americans use Twitter to break and comment on news, disseminate official pronouncements, organize campaigns and protests, or just let their friends know what’s on their minds.

No. 1, Around one-in-five U.S. adults (23 percent) say they use Twitter. This percentage of Americans who Tweet has remained consistent over the past several years and is similar to the share who use Snapchat (25 percent) and WhatsApp (23 percent). But a much larger share of U.S. adults use YouTube (81 percent), Facebook (69 percent) and Instagram (40 percent).

No. 2, Infrequent and frequent Tweeters tend to tweet in different ways. Replies to other users are the most common type of Tweet by infrequent Tweeters. They account for roughly half of their tweets (51 percent), compared with 30 percent of those sent by more frequent Tweeters. By contrast, retweets of other posts make up almost half of all posts (46 percent) from more frequent Tweeters, versus only 26 percent of those from less active Tweeters.

No. 3, A minority of Twitter users produce the vast majority of Tweets. Among U.S. adults who use Twitter, the top 25 percent of users by Tweet volume produce 97 percent of all Tweets, while the bottom 75 percent of users produce just 3 percent, according to an analysis conducted over a three-month period in 2021.