LISA THALHEIMER
Opinions Writer
All around the world, Twitter is a phenomenon. Here in Saskatoon, however, it seems people view it as nothing more than a series of status updates that celebrities use to further their careers. While celebrities do frequent the site, they only make up a small amount of the activity that takes place.
For those who are completely out of the loop, Twitter is a social-networking website that allows people to share their thoughts in under 140 characters per message (called a tweet). This may seem restricting, but it keeps people on track and to the point, something that I find many people on Facebook have trouble with.
I’ve been using Twitter faithfully since June, and I have to say that I like it way better than Facebook. Not only does it connect you to your group of friends, but it keeps you connected to the entire world. The list of “trending topics” that sit on the right side of the screen has enlightened me on many subjects before most people I know.
Recently, Twitter has narrowed the trending topics so if one does not want to see what’s going on throughout the entire world, they can be updated on a select city or country of their choice
The trending topic list consists of 10 words or topics that are the most frequently used in people’s tweets at the moment. In other words, it’s a live feed of what is being talked about the most. I found out about Haiti, Oprah’s retirement, Michael Jackson’s death, Tiger Woods’s affair, Balloon Boy, Kate McGarrigle’s death and many other year-defining moments all from the trending topics.
Twitter has become one of the fastest sources of news that we have, especially since almost all major news networks are tweeting, thus competing to get the story out to the public first.
While many celebrities do use Twitter, there is a purpose behind a lot of their tweets. I follow my favourite bands and performers to keep updated on their latest concert and album releases. Many celebrities and companies often give away free swag to people who respond to certain tweets, and since there is a 140 character limit, many celebrities take the time to give concise responses to fan questions and comments.
One of the main reasons I prefer Twitter over Facebook is that a person doesn’t get flooded with application updates. I personally do not care to see the results regarding someone’s “Which Disney Princess are You?” quiz and I’m not exactly concerned with updates from the Farmtown application either.
Those same people who are filling out the quizzes and playing Farmtown are probably updating their statuses with things like “omg u guyz i totes lost my phone,” only to be followed by “it wuz on the desk beside me LOL.”
I can understand why these statuses might make people fear Twitter, but the good thing is that if a person wants to follow your Twitter feed, you never actually have to start following that person. This means no one feels the pain of being rejected or “unfriended.” Of course, if you really dislike a specific person, you can always completely block them or have a private profile.
Overall, Twitter is highly underrated in Saskatoon and needs to be given a chance. It can’t hurt to give it a try.
photo: Flickr / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
- -
Comments are closed.