Nearly one in five people in the US now regularly use applications like Twitter and Facebook to post and read status updates, according to the results of a new survey.

The latest research from the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that 19 per cent of people use services like Twitter, up from 11 per cent less than a year ago. The three groups most likely to use such services are mobile internet users, people under 44 and social network users.

"The more devices someone owns, the more likely they are to use Twitter or another service to update their status," said the Twitter and Status Updating, Fall 2009 report.

"Fully 39 per cent of internet users with four or more internet-connected devices (such as a laptop, cell phone, game console or Kindle) use Twitter, compared to 28 per cent of internet users with three devices, 19 per cent of internet users with two devices, and 10 per cent of internet users with one device."

The survey also highlighted some interesting data on the age of people using social networking tools. The average age of a Twitter user remained constant over the past year at 31, while LinkedIn and MySpace users' average age dropped to 39 and 26 respectively.

The average age of Facebook users increased, however, from 26 in May 2008 to 31 today, reflecting an increase in the number of older users.

"For now, it is clear that a 'social segment' of internet users is flocking to social network sites and status update services," the report concluded. " This segment is likely to grow as more internet users adopt mobile devices as a primary means of going online."