Twitter use strongest among US minority groups - study

African-American and Latino adults in the US who use the internet are twice as likely as whites to use the website Twitter, a survey has found.

The Pew Research Center, a Washington-based think tank, found that 13% of Latino and 18% of African-American adult internet users use Twitter, reports BBC News.

Of all US adult internet users, 8% use the micro-blogging site, Pew found.

Minority groups visit the site more because they are younger and use mobile technology more often, the centre said.

"Both of those groups, African-American and Latino adult internet users in the US, tend to be younger than white internet users, which helps to lead to their adoption of Twitter," said Senior Research Specialist Aaron Smith.

"Both of those groups are also very mobile populations in their use of cell phones in particular to access the web," he said, adding that "Twitter lends itself easily to mobile technology."

"Overall, non-whites are more likely than white cell phone owners to do a range of non-voice tasks on their cell phones - they are more likely to use instant messaging and social networking on their phones."

The study also suggested those who live in cities and were more likely to use the social networking site - which lets users post updates using up to 140 characters.