Life in 140 characters?
Twitter is great, I mean really great. The world’s blog is now condensed into just the little screen of a phone or computer. You can send questions to your favourite celebrities, update your life for your followers to see, become part of a worldwide trend or simply talk to your friends.
Twitter is at the point where it has become a crucial part of our lives. Every day over 500 million tweets are sent, including updates on peoples’ lives, latest celebrity gossip and political comment. But come on, can our lives really be condensed into a mere 140 characters? Well the short answer is, yes, it would certainly seem so.
To understand why, we have to look at the start. Back in 2006, “Twitter” was launched and was competing with other large social media forums including Facebook and Myspace. Nine years later and the popularity of its tiny form has turned it into an online giant. Back in 2008, Twitter had approximately 6 million active users; this year it boasts a gargantuan 304 million.
Why do people like it so much? Well, Twitter is often praised for allowing millions of people to communicate widely, no matter where they are, sharing their thoughts and ideas for public consumption. There is no friend system so what you post, unless you lock your profile, is simply out there for the world to see. Your ideas could easily become global. Twitter’s rise is arguably down to its differentiation from other social media – in particular its unique, concise 140 character limit.
Twitter users are able to follow their favourite bands, actors and politicians, hearing words of ‘wisdom’ or at the very least words of opinion, straight from the horse’s mouth. What’s not to like about that? TV viewers can enhance their all-round media experience of a show by joining in live online commentary. Businesses, charities and campaign groups have all harnessed the power of the tweet to get their messages through and the use of the hashtag system has allowed special interest networks and chat groups to form.
Twitter is growing fast along with the Internet and will most likely continue to for the rest of its online life. Surprisingly the 140 characters don’t seem to have held it back at all. If anything the reverse is true. People are increasingly satisfied with just the snippets of a news story, the short snaps into the lives of the famous. Maybe it’s because people have become lazy and just want to get straight to the point so 140 characters is enough; maybe it means no one is looking behind the headlines any more; on the other hand, maybe it’s simply offering a whole additional way of catching-up and communicating that just wasn’t there in the past. Whether you like it or loathe it, Twitter has revolutionised social media and it doesn’t show any sign of slowing down.
Elliot Willcocks, Year 12
Twitter is at the point where it has become a crucial part of our lives. Every day over 500 million tweets are sent, including updates on peoples’ lives, latest celebrity gossip and political comment. But come on, can our lives really be condensed into a mere 140 characters? Well the short answer is, yes, it would certainly seem so.
To understand why, we have to look at the start. Back in 2006, “Twitter” was launched and was competing with other large social media forums including Facebook and Myspace. Nine years later and the popularity of its tiny form has turned it into an online giant. Back in 2008, Twitter had approximately 6 million active users; this year it boasts a gargantuan 304 million.
Why do people like it so much? Well, Twitter is often praised for allowing millions of people to communicate widely, no matter where they are, sharing their thoughts and ideas for public consumption. There is no friend system so what you post, unless you lock your profile, is simply out there for the world to see. Your ideas could easily become global. Twitter’s rise is arguably down to its differentiation from other social media – in particular its unique, concise 140 character limit.
Twitter users are able to follow their favourite bands, actors and politicians, hearing words of ‘wisdom’ or at the very least words of opinion, straight from the horse’s mouth. What’s not to like about that? TV viewers can enhance their all-round media experience of a show by joining in live online commentary. Businesses, charities and campaign groups have all harnessed the power of the tweet to get their messages through and the use of the hashtag system has allowed special interest networks and chat groups to form.
Twitter is growing fast along with the Internet and will most likely continue to for the rest of its online life. Surprisingly the 140 characters don’t seem to have held it back at all. If anything the reverse is true. People are increasingly satisfied with just the snippets of a news story, the short snaps into the lives of the famous. Maybe it’s because people have become lazy and just want to get straight to the point so 140 characters is enough; maybe it means no one is looking behind the headlines any more; on the other hand, maybe it’s simply offering a whole additional way of catching-up and communicating that just wasn’t there in the past. Whether you like it or loathe it, Twitter has revolutionised social media and it doesn’t show any sign of slowing down.
Elliot Willcocks, Year 12