The verdict is still out on teens and Twitter.

While everyone from Martha Stewart (@Marthastewart) to Neil Diamond (@NeilDiamond) may have jumped on the Twitter bandwagon, several industry reports have pointed out that one surprising demographic in particular isn’t busy tweeting the day away: Teens.

The news that teens aren’t hip to Twitter has been circulating for months now, with studies showing that only 16 percent of Twitter’s audience is under the age of 24.

Now industry insiders are concerned with why that is. According to a study done by a 15-year-old Morgan Stanley intern (why Morgan Stanley even hires 15-year-old interns is another story), the reason most of today’s youth aren’t tweeting is because, among other reasons, Facebook still reigns as the social network of choice. He also proclaims that teens “would rather text friends” and because “they realize that no one is viewing their profile, so their ‘tweets’ are pointless.”

Mashable has another, more articulate theory, and it’s a pretty good one:

“…Since more adults are using Twitter, more adults feel the need to try it. Since less teens are on the social media website, less teens feel inclined. This is a snowball effect that will only get larger if the trend continues.”

A spring comScore study backs up the claim.

Indeed, some think that Twitter may just be a kind of retrograde phenomenon, catching on with older demographics first. Mashable notes that while teens aren’t using the site as much as their older counterparts, Twitter’s tween and teen demographic are, in fact, its fastest growing audience. The Silicon Business Insider also notes this trend in the article “Actually, Kids Don’t Hate Twitter Anymore!”

Further, another Mashable article states that Twitter PR and advertising catering to kids can still reap benefits, as the teens that do log onto the site mainly do so to follow their favorite celebrities, products, and the like.

So, despite evidence to the contrary, all hope is not lost for marketers looking to reach the teen demographic. It might just take a little more time and patience before the message is heard.

Melinda is an intern at Wicked PR. She recently graduated from The University of Tennessee with a degree in journalism and electronic media. Follow her on Twitter @WickedMel7.