#Twitter#FollowMe#Tweet

Tweet, Tweet, Tweet

I saw this tweet, which made me laugh about the irony of being followed without literally being followed. It seems our popularity status is determinate on how many people follow us on Twitter.

So What is Twitter? 

What is its appeal to over 550 million users?

Twitter is a social network and its main focus is about real-time communication for its users to share and discover information instantly. The logo of the bird falls in line with the name Twitter which is a word that comes from frequent chirping made by birds.

Howard Rheingold would describe Twitter as a virtual community. This virtual community has been called 'Twitterverse' where businesses, organisations and celebrities can flourish. Rheingold (1994) coined the phrase Virtual Community, which he defines as a social network of individuals that emerge on the internet when enough people carry on public discussions long enough with enough emotions to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace. People using Twitter have become emotionally connected and are addicted to sharing every thought they have and every thing they do. 

So now to understand Twitter! I had no idea how Twitter actually worked until I wrote this blog, and honestly I am still not too keen on it but I can see the pros of being apart of the 'Twittersphere'. However for me it is an unnecessary thing to have in my life. 

I would most definitely find it hard to 'tweet' only 140 characters. I have way too much to say and I think that I only want to share those things with my friends and family. I think having a restriction on the word limit for updates can be both good and bad as it will enforce clear and articulate updates but will also promote laziness for spelling and grammar.

And seriously what is this hashtag? This is so confusing. In a desperate attempt to understand what this is I explored the Twitter website for more information. This is what I have found.

A Hashtag is a way to categorise subjects and help tweeters search more concisely and easily. Hashtags can occur anywhere within a tweet; the beginning, middle or the end. Words that are hashtagged which become very popular are known as trending topics! Who would have known something so simple yet so complex plays such an important role in the lifestyles of the tech savvy individuals and organisations. I have also noticed that hashtags have made their way to Facebook aswell! 

Although Twitter is mainly utilised by celebrities and also as a business tool for marketing and promoting products, Twitter is also used when there is a crisis, for example the most recent Typhoon in the Philippines or during the Black Saturday fires in Victoria. I particularly do like this feature and do like how it brings everyone together to provide support for the unfortunate people who are victim to these events. 

I leave you now with some fun #Twitterfacts I bet you did not know! I sure didn't!! 

Signing out for now, See you next week! KM

References

Rheingold, H 2013, Howard Rheingold, viewed 7th December 2013, <http://rheingold.com/>.

Twitter, viewed 7th December 2013 <https://twitter.com/>

Twittersphere (Image) <http://alfredovela.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/historiavisualdetwitter.jpg>

Twitter Fun Facts, 2012  viewed 7th December 2013 <http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/236x/4d/ed/19/4ded19c49fc39cd0ab704244c724fe7e.jpg>