Twitter & Tweeting

Twitter has mobile applications to access tweets at any time.

As of January 2011, Twitter reported that it had 200 million members, sending 110 million tweets a day. Twitter was launched in 2006 as a micro-blogging site, giving users a social space to answer the simple question, "What are you doing?" Since then, Twitter has become a widely used tool for doing more than just updating friends on what you had for lunch.

Overview

Twitter is a free social networking site. Anyone with an email address can sign up for Twitter. Once you sign up, you choose a username that serves as your Twitter identity. This may be your name, the name of your company or something that describes your interests or personality. A Twitter account can be made public or private. A public account is more ideal for businesses and brands that want to get their message to a large number of followers and do not want to manage permissions. Twitter is accessible via the company's website, but it can also be accessed through mobile phones and can be set up to feed directly to other social networking sites and websites.

Tweets

Twitter created its very own mini language. When a user sends an update, it is called a "tweet." The user is said to be "tweeting." Tweets are the basis of Twitter. A tweet can be no longer than 140 characters and it can say just about anything. Some Twitterers use their account to share updates about their life; for others Twitter is a tool for promoting themselves or their brand. A tweet can also be used to link directly to another location on the Web with more detailed information.

Followers and Following

Once you sign up for Twitter, you can search for and choose to follow other Twitterers. If the Twitter account is public, it is simply a matter of clicking "Follow" to began receiving Tweets from the other person. If the account is private, you must wait for your request to be accepted before seeing tweets. Likewise, if you have a private account, you must accept or decline anyone who wants to follow you. Twitter will suggest people for you to follow based on your interests, but you may also do your own search.

Uses

Twitter is a tool for letting friends and family know what you are up to, but it also has other uses. Twitter is consistently used in the business world to announce new products, gain feedback and communicate with customers when complaints and compliments are made. Twitter has also had an impact in politics and world events. Twitter was used heavily in Iran in 2009 to organize protests around the country's presidential election. In 2011, the Red Cross used Twitter to encourage donations for those affected by the Japanese earthquake. Twitter is also a news source, used by media and the public to share stories. In 2009, a bystander was the first to break news of the US Airways crash into the Hudson River in New York by tweeting a photo of the plane.

References

• "The Wall Street Journal"; The Twitter Revolution; Michael S. Malone; April 2009
• Twitter: About
• "The New York Times"; Twitter News; April 2010
• PCMag.com; Nine Ways to Use Twitter; John C. Dvorak; March 2009
• "The Wall Street Journal"; Twittering the USAirways Plane Crash; Shira Ovide; January 2009
• "Forbes" magazine; Twitter Hits Nearly 200 Million Accounts, 110M Tweets Per Day, Focuses on Global Expansion; Oliver Chiang; January 2011

Resources

• Mashable: Twitter Guide Book: How To, Tips and Instructions by Mashable
• Twitter Tools