Tweet Tweet

Twitter is an online news and social networking service where users post and interact with messages, known as “tweets,” which are restricted to 140 characters. Registered users can post tweets, but those who are unregistered can only read them. Twitter was created in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams and was launched in July, rapidly gaining popularity in 2012.
            Paul Gil stated, “Twitter and ‘tweeting’ is about broadcasting daily short burst messages to the world, with the hope that your messages are useful and interesting to someone.” Gil summed up the correct way Twitter should be used, but most users today don’t use Twitter to convey useful and interesting messages. While Twitter has created new sub textual categories for communicating, Twitter often showcases classic philosophical theories of humor. The majority of users today are rather humorous and sarcastic on Twitter. Everyone uses Twitter for different reasons, some to boost business, some to have a laugh, and some to find out current events that are occurring in the world. According to Lifewire, Twitter is used for marketing but also doubles as a social media site. Users can easily talk to one another publicly or through a direct message. 

Many would agree that Twitters best aspect would have to be how fast news travels. Within seconds you could be reading live tweets of a current situation that will later be all over the news. Within seconds of any terror attack, it is all over Twitter, keeping users up to date and involved on what is going on across the globe. The article that was posted by The Washington Post about the Paris attack shows how law enforcement were active on Twitter during the attack, finding out information they would not have known about. More than 4 million tweets were sent in the 24 hours after the Paris attacks. Celebrities and world leaders obtained rapid retweets on their tweets regarding the attack, spreading awareness worldwide.

Twitter is also heavily used as a journalistic tool, allowing reporters and writers to tweet to the public about what they should know. They also have to be brief, getting straight to the point. With a single click add, information can be shared and passed on. Visual journalism is also huge; adding images and video makes a big difference to how far something spreads.

Twitter is also a powerful political tool that was used in the recent election, some even referring to it as the “Twitter Election.” Every step of the campaign was played out in tweets from voters, candidates, and journalists. There were roughly 1 billion tweets about the election. The presidential election has taken over Twitter for the last year with political memes, live-streamed debates, and general tweets and retweets of views and opinions. Our newly elected President, Trump cannot seem to stop tweeting. He tweets just about anything and everything on his mind.

Twitter is also being used as an organizational tool to start movements and organize events or rallies that the world can take part in. The use of social media as a powerful tool for social movements is unquestionable. Any individual or organization can launch a campaign on social media. “A Day Without A Woman” strike was brought to Twitters attention and rapidly shared worldwide. Women decided to strike for equal pay, immigrants’ rights, and reproductive rights.

Social media is changing the way people are made aware of breaking news. Recently the manhunt for Facebook killer, Steve Stephens was plastered all over Twitter. Stephens killed a random, innocent pedestrian on Easter Sunday and fled the scene, taking Cleveland Police roughly 48 hours to track him down. Twitter weighed in a great amount with evidence; users described the man, included pictures of him, and gave insight as to where he could be going. Twitter helped the police catch Stephens.
            In recent events, Twitter mauled United Airlines. The video showing the violent “re-accommodation” of Dr. David Dao has become a PR nightmare for United Airlines and a goldmine for Internet wits on Twitter. Users shared the video that spread like rapid fire on Twitter and of course made countless memes and jokes about the incident.

Twitter is also first to convey the sad news of a legend or person of importance who has passed away. As details emerged of the deaths of legendary singer’s, Prince and David Bowie, collaborators, friends, and fans expressed their sadness over the tragic news with tweets, pictures, and hashtags. When Prince passed, users hashtagged #RIPPrince and with the passing of Bowie, users tweeted #RIPBowie, both hashtags quickly began trending worldwide within minutes of their death being known. 

            One account chosen to follow on Twitter was Nutella. Nutella is a brand of hazelnut cocoa spread that happens to use palm oil. The palm oil industry is linked to major issues such as deforestation, habitat degradation, climate change, animal cruelty, and indigenous rights abuse in the countries where it is produced. The rainforests that are being wiped out due to palm oil production is devastating and unacceptable. Nutella should feel nothing but shame.

            Adrian Grenier was the second account that was followed on Twitter. Grenier is an actor, producer, director, musician, and environmental activist. Grenier partnered with U.S. technology giant Dell to turn the tide on ocean pollution by pulling plastic out of the ocean and recycling it into a commercially viable way. Grenier is a strong advocate for ocean conservation; his current campaign is to eliminate the usage of straws. Grenier uses his voice for the correct reasons, which is very respectable.

            The third account followed was HBO, also known as Home Box Office, a premium cable and satellite television network. HBO is one of the better television networks out there; they produce one of a kind series that can be streamed online, or on live television if you have an account. Rumor has it that HBO is a really neat company to work for.

Twitter is seen as microblogging, a shorter form of blogging, but Twitter and blogs are still vastly different. Tweets are limited to 140 characters where as blog posts have no character length limit. Blogging isn’t for everyone, but Twitter definitely is. Following your favorite celebs, athletes, and politicians is an awesome way to keep up to date with what is going on in the world.