Twitter Natter and the Art of Microblogging

 Founded in 2006, Twitter has become a major social media platform in today’s society. By providing users with a 140 character tweet, it is easy to send quick updates and likewise inform others of what you are doing and what you think. From my engagement in microblogging, it is clear to see why Twitter has become so popular worldwide. Unlike regular blogging, I find the smaller updates easier to manage and less time consuming than a full on blog. As a result of my recent university module, my eyes have also been opened to a multitude of journalism-related Twitter profiles I was previously unaware of.

 Just like other social media platforms online, I was intrigued by the amount of other users worldwide who could access my tweets. Using data provided by Business Insider Intelligence, I decided to produce a map showing the millions of Twitter users in a selection of countries. 

A map showing the amount of Twitter users per country.

 

After seeing the popularity of Twitter was extensively widespread, I asked myself why Twitter is so popular and what the benefits of this type of microblogging are. I personally find it trouble-free to access Twitter on my smartphone which, overall, makes me more willing to commit to having a profile. Reading the tweets on my timeline is quick and painless and, if other users have included a link to a longer article, I like having the option as to whether I want to read something lengthier. As I have also chose who to follow, the tweets which appear on my timeline are relevant to my interests and it is rare I will see a tweet which does not appeal to me.

 Another advantage I found during my focus on news and journalism on Twitter was the ability to create lists. This enabled me to selectively look at my followers who targeted the area I was looking for and get faster updates on any breaking news stories. In relation to breaking news, profiles such as @BreakingNews and @TWCBreaking were most efficient if I was looking for any crucial stories. Nonetheless, after following numerous news organisations, I found myself reading an array of longer articles from other profiles I’d previously overlooked. As a result, I feel the exercise I was assigned has increased my knowledge of news organisations out there and where I can go to search for news.

 As well as reading the news, Twitter also allowed me to directly contact another user if I have something relevant to say. During my assignment I was fortunate to communicate with Madeline Haller, Cosmopolitan’s Social Media Editor. After commenting on her tweet, I was lucky to get a reply back. Before the assignment, I think it would’ve been unlikely of me to comment on somebody's tweet who I didn’t know directly.

 Similarly, after tweeting questions relating to journalism, I was surprised that people responded. Not just friends who followed me, but people I didn’t know as well. This showed me the power of microblogging and the ability to attract attention if you so wished. I put this down to the use of hashtags and targeting people with similar interests.

 However, Twitter can have a downfall when using hashtags. Spamming can easily occur when topics are trending and people are trying to get recognised. I find this causes confusion on my timeline and shows me tweets that are irrelevant to me. From my engagement on Twitter, this has to be one of the inconvenient traits of this microblogging platform.

 Additionally, if I was to point out any other faults during my use of Twitter, it would be the limit of 140 characters. Whilst I still stand by it being convenient to read short tweets, I sometimes ran into the problem of not having enough characters. I guess this is what comes with microblogging and if you want to engage in it you have to realise it still has its flaws.

 

 I can still see why Twitter is the most popular microblogging platform and, overall, can see more benefits than negatives.