Twitter is a service that asks just a simple question “what are you doing”? The answers to this question are astounding. Twitter has generated hundreds of thousands of responses and more impressively turned these answers into full on conversations.
To the newcomers though, Twitter can be very overwhelming and confusing.
Getting Started in 140 Characters
The best analogy for Twitter is to equate everybody’s status updates to newsfeed. As people constantly update their status of what they are doing at that moment, it creates a newsfeed. Updates can only be a maximum of 140 characters.
When signing up for Twitter, a person can subscribe or “follow” a persons twitter updates. As the new user posts they are updated information, need to create a newsfeed that other people can follow. Eventually everybody’s pages are a culmination of everybody else’s updates.
Life Between Blog Posts
The idea of Twitter is to see everybody’s lives between their major updates that they post to blogs. It’s a way to get to know people better, especially friends and family who do not keep in contact every day. It’s a way to make “Internet smalltalk” and learn little details about people such as television shows are watching or places they are going to.
By following people and being followed, everybody’s Twitter feeds combine into a large web of information. It is a great way to know a little bits of information about the people that interest Twitter users.
It’s Not Just for the Computer
One large advantage of Twitter is that it is not just read an updated over the web. Twitter’s 140-character limit is intentional because it is also designed to work great with text messaging. Twitter updates can be received and sent via SMS or dedicated applications on the iPhone and other mobile devices. This mobility gives Twitter a major advantage by allowing access from anywhere.
The size limit on updates demands that people get right to the point and automatically removes rambling from the service.
Getting News Everywhere
A great way to get news on the go is to “follow” websites that post their updates on Twitter simultaneously with their website updates. Websites such as CNN, TUAW, and others can be followed to have updates on the go. Because Twitter lets people reply to update from others, it is very common to see conversations spread the word of important news and information.
People “re-tweet” updates from others which spreads information even faster. An important event such as a snowstorm or somebody who is gone missing can be all over Twitter with a matter of minutes, far faster than any news network can get the word out there.
Twitter can be an overwhelming service especially with the few resources available through their website. By understanding the concept of the service and utilizing in the way that suits its users, Twitter can be a valuable resource in a fun way to stay in contact with people.
 |
