Jan
20
Twitter Fever
Posted by: ruthirma | January 20, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Four years ago, no one knew what Twitter was,it’s probably a ‘weird-sounding’ word to most of us. Today however, the situation has changed. Twitter is not only popular among young people, but extends its fame to older working professionals as well – even church pastors are making use of this ‘microblog’ to encourage others with their words of wisdom.Most of us are now on Twitter, ‘following’ friends and celebrities, updating our status – an activity refered to as ‘tweeting’ (yes, Twitter has even got its own verb now!).
I am no exception.
When I first heard about Twitter, I despised it. But now, I tweet all the time. Why the sudden change in attitude?I guess the reason is because it adds value to my life. In my free time, I love to read self-help books that help me to improve myself as a person. Twitter allows me to do this when I ‘follow’ certain users that provide nuggets of thoughtful quotes which I can reflect on. (e.g. @ihatequotes, @TheLoveStories, etc)
Through the class discussions, I learn a little bit more about why Twitter has become such a success.
It is apparent from the success of Facebook that people have a need to connect.We value social life more than anything. Twitter has capitalised on this social trend and took it to the next level. People can now stay updated on what their friends are thinking about or doing at this moment. The twist is that it demands a little bit more creativity by limiting users to only 140 characters.
On top of that, Twitter gives people what they want – convenience. People can tweet anywhere, anytime from their cellphones. The increasing use of smartphones such as Blackberry and Iphone supports this.
Twitter has met multiple levels of our needs,no wonder we love it so much.