Twitter is just
one more thing in our lives that makes the world a little smaller. People from
all over the world use twitter for a variety of reasons. It may have started
out with the intent to be just another social media outlet but it has evolved
into much more. Users now have accounts devoted to certain focuses such as
news, marketing, inspiration, networking and entertainment. An all these
accounts strive to get more followers and to spread their message as far as
they can. Socializing has been a major role in Twitter but many have caught on
to its ability to mass communicate. Twitter is capable of hitting a specific
target audience very easily because users seek out and select things that
interest them.
Marketing has become very popular on Twitter. Companies will advertise products,
services, deals, and any big changes they make. Organizations can promote
events or activities they are doing that might make them look good in the
public eye. It is a free source of advertising that many organizations
will make full use of. As a marketing tool it allows people to interact,
comment and share the information with each other. With TV ads you can only
tell how many people saw the ad but now you can see how people liked and
responded to it on Twitter. Its kind of like having one large focus group.
The use of Twitter as a news outlet has made it the leading first response
source for breaking news stories even before the mainstream media gets a hold
of it. This is when people become amateur reporters because they are already
there when the events are happening giving people a firsthand experience. When
you tweet during an event it’s called a live-tweet. This type of tweeting
happens all the time and not just for tragic events but also for a multitude of
events. You just have to tweet while it’s happening. Mainstream media uses it
to inform people of their stories and articles that they cover as well. So you
aren’t just finding amateur reporting on Twitter but also professional
reporting.
Twitter has become a common place
for people to speak out about politics. People share their views, politicians campaign,
and news keeps you up to date on what is going on. It has been used to organize
movements and rally people. It spreads information quickly. It has been used in
the occupy Wall Street movement and the Arab Spring. In Egypt it allowed many
people to speak out without the government cracking down on them. People were
able to tell the world about what was going on in Egypt and talk about the
crimes on the government. The government in Egypt shut off the Interment but
many still found was around that and continued to use Twitter.
During the Pairs attacks People took
to Twitter for information and to support the victims of the attacks. It was
being talked about all over the world. People condemned ISIS for this attack
and talked of how horrific the event was. Celebrities, politicians and everyone
else began Tweeting about this event bringing more and more awareness to what
happened. There was a huge spike in tweets that were commenting negatively about
ISIS. This was a very successful use of Twitter. The message was spread worldwide
and received much more favorably than those who were for ISIS. The number of
people who posted in the twenty four hours after the attacks shows the
attraction this event got by using Twitter.
Currently people are taking to Twitter to talk about the US presidential
race. Candidates are attacking each other, putting their views out there, and
coordinating large viral campaigns. When Donald Trump gets on Twitter he often
causes quite a stir amongst people. During one of the debates Trump said some misogynistic
things to the host Megyn Kelly and after he took to twitter to continue things.
As he is a major figure in our news and politics today many people follow and
watch his Twitter account. This lead to large backlash from many people about
the comments he made. People began Tweeting at him about their disapproval.
Trump tried to use Twitter as a means of campaigning but this only hurt him. He
used Twitter unprofessionally and suffered from doing so.
The Panama Papers is one of the latest breaking news stories. Government
officials and wealthy people from all over the world have been putting money
into offshore banking accounts out of the public view. Not all of these
activities are illegal but none of them look good on the individuals using
these accounts. People have once again gone to Twitter to voice their opinions.
Many people in Iceland called for the resignation of their prime minister who
later resigned. People were outraged in Ukraine as well because of their
president who had said he would put an end to this type of activities and was
doing it himself. The pressure of people of Twitter begins to create public outcry
and a demand for change. This was a successful use of Twitter to organize ideas
and promote change.
For my Twitter project I followed Bernie Sanders, Habitat for
Humanity and Seth Macfarlane. These were three different types of Twitter
accounts that gave perspective on how you can use Twitter. Bernie Sanders
showed how you can communicate political ideas. Habitat for Humanity show how
nonprofits work to communicate their message and help their communities. Seth
Macfarlane is a celebrity who gives a perspective of what it’s like to tweet as
a comedian and how he influences people. Each of these accounts was unique to
what they wanted to communicate. Some wanted you to be aware and then drive you
to action and some were just trying to provoke new thoughts.
Twitter is different from how you would normally blog. You have
to be able to capture people’s attention with a limited number of words and
separate yourself from the billions of other tweets out there. You’re not going
into any detail in a tweet; you just want to get people’s attention so that if
they want they can look more in depth. Twitter offers you the ability to jump
from one subject to the next instantly all without leaving the app. The speed Twitter
offers means you don’t have to sit down to read a full blog or article. You can
read on the go. You can read one tweet or dozens but it’s always short and
never takes up your time.
