Twitter is a social networking site that was founded in
2006 in San Francisco. Unlike most sites
however, Twitter limits the post lengths of the users, which are designated as tweets, to 140 total characters. This forces users to be concise and clever
enough to have their thoughts read by others.
The brevity of posts makes it ideal to be read and posted from a cell
phone, and the company provides apps for a great variety of mobile
devices. Users choose an available
handle and can choose to follow other
users: tweets of people who are followed then appear in the twitter feed on the
home page. Users can also retweet posts from others so that
popular thoughts can be shared with others.
While this idea seems like a novelty, the site has gained traction worldwide;
it is currently in use by the majority of nations across the world and is available
in over 20 languages. The site has
gained attention by even heavy hitters in the global community. Athletes, movie stars, politicians, and
businesses all flock to the site to share their ideas and communicate on the
global stage. (https://twitter.com/about)
Arab Spring
This global subscriber base has found surprisingly creative
uses for Twitter that are probably outside the initial intentions of the
creators. The Arab Spring movement in
early 2011 utilized Twitter and other social media websites to organize protests. Egyptian protesters who objected to abuses
of the regime of President Hosni Mubarak, had over 85,000 people pledge to
attend protests via social media sites.
Because of the role of Twitter and other sites in coordinating protests,
the former President cut off the internet connection, but he was eventually
pressured to resign by the global community because of his mistreatment of protesters (http://harvardhrj.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/185-220.pdf)
The revolution in Egypt, that captured headlines across the globe was facilitated by the use of Twitter.
Cover Credit: PHOTOGRAPH BY CORENTIN FOHLEN / SIPA PRESS
Occupy Wall Street
Taking cues from their Middle Eastern brothers, Twitter
users in the US helped to organize protests during the summer of the same year,
during this current recession. The
movement, deemed Occupy Wall Street, protested a variety of abuses by the
wealthiest Americans. While the movement
originally started in Wall Street, similar protests developed in cities across
the country. The main account of Occupy
Wall Street alone gained over 94,000 followers. (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/25/business/media/occupy-movement-focuses-on-staying-current-on-social-networks.html)
National Crisis
Apart from protests, Twitter has also proved to be an
interesting tool during times of disaster.
During a terrorist attack in Mumbai in 2008, people used twitter as a
first hand news source, as people tried to make sense of the violence and
respond to loved ones. While the
accuracy of certain information was called into questions, the huge spike in
activity showed that people turn to social media even during a disaster. (http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/11/27/mumbai.twitter/index.html)
Role in the News
In the 24-hour news cycle, Twitter has embedded itself
into many professional broadcasts. The
value of the information gathered from Twitter is often questioned, but this
trend appears to have staying power.
News stations like CNN will often turn to Twitter to augment their
on-site reporting, trying to gain better first-hand accounts of stories. The site also seemed to play a significant
role during the Presidential debates this year.
Analysts would follow Twitter trends during the debates and report to
the viewers at home. Tweets would surge
during memorable moments like Romney commenting on Big Bird. The comment also spawned a fake Twitter
account for the Sesame Street character. When a scandal breaks out, sites like Twitter
seem to be a popular pulpit by which the offender can address the world. This is especially true of ESPN, which seems
to cover tweets from athletes almost as much as they cover actual highlights. The wide acceptance of Twitter from the professional media shows that it is here to stay.
In addition to reporting the tweets of others, ESPN has its own Twitter feed. (Screenshot from Twitter)
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