A few weeks ago in my Intro to Communications class, we had to post on Vista a term that has become our reality. My term was Social Networking. I discussed how it started with Myspace, then moved to Facebook, and now Twitter. Not only has social networking changed the game as far as our personal lives are concerned, but also how we receive and find information.
Though I am not a member of Twitter, I do enjoy reading about my favorite celebs and not to mention, I do have a bunch of friends who use twitter and are twitter addicts.
I have not decided if I wanted to join the trend, but I did give it a shot for blogging purposes.
Twitter, like Facebook is a free service and is a mixture of micro-blogging and social networking. It allows people to generate more traffic for their blog, website, and/or news-site, by posting links, opinions, or snippets of whatever information they want traffic for. However, there is a 140 character limit, so you need keep your messages brief and to the point.
Twitter has two major components. You can add "followers" and follow other people as well. They will receive your updates and you will receive theirs.
Tweeting is similar to news writing because you have to gain your follower's attention quickly, or they will "unfollow" you. Just like in a news article, you need to engage the readers quickly, or they will stop reading.
Also, since twitter allows for opinions, unlike a news story, this is a chance for readers to get to know the person behind the story. You can make an account that represents you or your publication.
And another concept is since Twitter is fast paced, people can reply to your article or statement as soon as you put it out there. This allows for constant discussions about whatever the issue is. And if your followers like a statement or article they will "re-tweet" it, almost like re-posting something so others can read it as well.
Lastly, since you are following other people, you also can join in on their conversations.
After taking the time to experience Twitter, I can see how news reporters and publications use this site. Reporters can use this site to engage readers on stories as they happen. Also, reporters can now talk to their readers and receive instant feedback.
Twitter fits the 24 hour news cycle because reporters can constantly update readers about breaking news or just news stories in general; therefore, it will be interesting to see if twitter is here to stay or will there be another site better than twitter.
Sites used:
www.twitter.com
http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-use-twitter
Some people have talked about Google Plus as a Twitter-y alternative, but I've been pretty unhappy with it so far. One of my main complaints about Twitter is the sheer number of posts -- my guess is that in some cases only a small % of a member's tweets ever get read or have their links clicked. When I post links to my blog on Twitter, I might get at most 1% of my followers clicking those links -- which raises some interesting questions about either the service or about my use of it.
ReplyDeleteCarmen, I've never had an interest in Twitter. It just seems like one more thing that will require a User Name and Password. Your informative blog about its potention merits makes we wonder if the tweeting experience would help me stay informed on the issues I am following for our "Writing on Writing" critques in our Journalism class. Thank you for sharing. Nancy
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