Why on Earth is Twitter so popular? It's always been something I can't explain. When one of the many internet twits is asked what Twitter actually is we're forced to draw a blank or compare it to Facebook status updates. A feeble and unimpressive description. Even so, Twitter is become phenomenally popular and useful with everyone from CNN to Britney Spears to some Household pets collecting a following to keep track of their small daily events.
Just today I saw a board for the Evening Standard printed with "BRITAIN DEFENDS NHS ON TWITTER" posted on it. This had me thinking: 1) Slow news day? and 2) What has Twitter become? I am proud to use the very common rock-band phrase: "I used it before it was popular", back when Twitter was simply a way to let a few people from around the world know your coffee regime and to keep track of Stephen Fry. Tweeting was like telling your simple thoughts to a brick wall and following interesting, but not fascinating. Now Twitter has become the portal for so many mediums of communication. The Evening Standard has dubbed it an acceptable opinion poll. Sky Sports used it as a way of giving updates on the action in the Ashes cricket matches. The Teen Choice awards offered an accolade to Ellen DeGeneres based on one of her tweets. David Pogue used it to write a book (The World According to Twitter, which I am proud to be a part of). The list goes on and will continue to go on and on. This is what free speech turns into; Twitter is nothing like Facebook Status updates because they are broadcast to friends. We say what we can about ourselves without being extraordinary. With Twitter we can and do say whatever we like without judgement.
The Iranian election was a particular turning point in how I saw Twitter. Tweets became important and necessary. It gave the Iranian people a chance to discuss their thoughts across the entire country away from the riots and the unreliable news coverage. It became a peaceful way to deal with a serious political issue.
And so we cycle back to the original question: why is Twitter so popular?
Because it's open and it's free. We are free to use it however we like and say whatever we like in 140 Characters. We can be creative, witty, resourceful and we do this without the shackles of censorship. There is something very liberating about truly feeling freedom of speech, especially when you see the wall you once talked to has a huge network of people who share your thoughts and ideas and are genuinely interested in what you have to say.
But what do you think?
Why do you think Twitter has become so immense? and How would you describe Twitter to your friends?
Thanks for Reading,
Yours,
Very insightful. I have to say that I have only recently become a twitter user, and at first I didn't really understand the point of it compared to a facebook status. Moreover, who really cares about what you ate for elevenses etc, why would you want to tell the world that? That said, upon using it, and "tweeting" I found that I am using it less for what I say, and more about what I want to hear, its so useful, its like all my rss feeds in one. I still don't think I've used twitter properly though, and that's why I like it- that it seems so simple but really, it digs deep.
ReplyDeleteAlso, chris, you might enjoy reading this if you haven't already- this opened up my eyes a bit when I started (you may know all this already though):
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1902604,00.html