It’s hard to ignore Twitter nowadays. Network news has embraced it, celebrities indulge in it and a whole lot of people wonder what the heck it is, and then they sign up too. Today’s world of Facebook and MySpace makes many roll their eyes at the various “social-networking” Web sites floating around. But Twitter has a lot more in its favor than sharing personal data or promoting the music industry.
It’s pretty simple to describe Twitter: People write short sentences or snippets (limited to 140 characters) and post them like entries in a journal or blog. There is no limit to how many entries a person can make at one time, but each entry usually stands alone as a specific thought or statement. Users can post what they are doing or what they think about something, or direct readers to articles or photographs on other Web sites.
How individuals use Twitter is purely up to them. Professional-media organizations use it as a live feed for reporting stories before they get published. When Vince Fumo was convicted last week, many Philly news sources posted the verdicts on their Twitter feeds first: Some even did a play-by-play as the number of guilty counts increased. Other people — celebrities and everyday citizens alike — use Twitter as a personal blog or a promotional tool, or simply to say hello to other “Tweeters,” like sending an e-mail.
In addition to writing, people can follow others’ posts, which appear on the Twitter.com home-page stacked one on top of the other. When someone writes a new post, it appears on top of the stack, like bricks on a wall. I can be reading my friend’s thoughts on a film she just saw and the next second be looking at the latest news update on the economy, then write my own thoughts, which will be sent to the top of all my friends’ pages.
There are many different people and organizations one can choose to follow, which makes each user’s Twitter page completely customizable. Want to see the latest news headlines from the BBC, New York Times and “60 Minutes” all on the same screen? Hungry for the latest meanderings of Tina Fey, Shaq and Rachel Maddow (who wrote that she threw out her back last week)? Both are possible. And of course, if you just want to message with friends about the latest event or evening, I’m sure you know at least one person on Twitter.
There are also many LGBT tweeters out there in all areas. Queerty, Big Gay News and Gay Rights Watch post news snippets on the community. Feast of Fun and The Lesbian Mafia are two popular talk shows that use Twitter. There are groups that have Twitter pages, like GLBT Dallas, which posts updates on city events, or LGBT History, which directs people to learn more about the community’s beginnings. And these are merely additions to all the individual users, gay and straight, who make Twitter one of the most popular sites on the Internet.
Whether you decide to use it as a place to simply read the latest headlines and gossip, build your own network of users to communicate with or simply write down a few daily thoughts, Twitter is a simple and easy way to get connected to whatever and whomever you choose. With a simpler interface than Facebook and less scandalous than MySpace (so far), it doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing an end to it any time soon. So, like the birds who have recently rejoined us from down south, why not hop on over, take a look around and give a tweet?
Contact Jason with feedback at [email protected].