How Twitter Works?
In the last 10 years or so, people have moved away from communication by telephone and letter-writing to embrace the connections of the Internet and World Wide Web.
In addition to using such social-networking sites as MySpace and Facebook to keep in touch with friends and tell their stories, many people have started to use Twitter. This means of keeping in touch is relatively new in the Internet world. But it has been adopted as a means of communication by thousands in a very short time.
Some believe that Twitter opens the world of electronic communication to many more people, especially those who are not comfortable working with the Web pages of MySpace and Facebook. Not only that, Twitter may be a comfortable way for people who already use the texting feature of their cell phone to do something similar on a personal computer.
Twitter is a messaging platform similar to instant messaging and texting but there is a difference. Twitter messages, called Tweets, are limited to 140 characters. These can be sent on almost any electronic method on the Web, including iPhone and instant messaging programs. The main use for Twitter is text, though some photo and audio capability is available.
As is the case with many networking and messaging systems, it’s easy to get started on Twitter. You simply establish an account and enter some basic profile information so people will know who they are communicating with. You can even put a “mug shot” photo or other image to give people more information about who you are.
Twitter has been used to keep up with what is happening in the lives of individuals, famous and not so famous. Remember that Tweets are limited to 140 characters. Twitter is not meant for long essays and explanations. It’s designed to get to the heart of the matter and for keeping up on the latest gossip/news.
Some attempts have been made to explain Twitter and Tweeting in 140 characters or less. The simplest description seems to be that when you use Twitter you are putting an idea or similar item out there for others to pick up. As one explanation put it, Tweets contain information and discussion topics that others follow because they are interested.
Of course, a key element in successful Twitter use is being connected to the system. You then can search for information using keywords or phrases, to see if anyone is Tweeting about that particular subject. It’s well known that professional athletes and celebrities have thousands of followers who use Twitter to see what an athlete or celebrity is up to.
There is another difference between this method and Web pages or Google for instance. In addition to the limited amount of text available on Twitter, Tweets are selected/filtered by people, while most search engines, such as Google, have automated systems to determine what goes to the top of the list.
Twitter might be the current version of the street-corner conversation so common years ago.
Category: Technology