My people TWIT your people

I found it astonishing that one person can actually have as big of a voice online as what an entire media company can on Twitter.

(Ashton Kutcher)

WHAT exactly is a Twitter? Twitter is like a stream of mini blog posts. Its value lies in your own community of followers and who you decide to follow. Twitter, as defined by Twitter.com (2009), is a free service which allows you to keep in touch with people through the exchange of quick and frequent answers through simple questions like; what are you doing? Similar to short messaging service (SMS), Twitter’s message character limits up to 140 characters (Steroid.com).

Everyone inclusive celebrities tweet. As of 15 June 2009, 838 celebrities tweeted on that day (Celebrity Tweet 2009).

Celebrity Twitter

Moreover, Nielsen Wire's (2009) research indicated that Twitter users beat other social-networking sites; Facebook and Multiply. The amount of Twitter users have grown tremendously over the years.

Source: Nielsen Wire 2009

Early this year, Twitter’s top tweeter, celebrity Ashton Kutcher challenged CNN in a race to 1 million followers, which he won (CNN.com 2009). However, later on, Kutcher threatened that he will stop tweeting if this micro-blogging company decided to co-operate with TV producers Reveille and Brillstein Entertainment on an unscripted show which “put ordinary people on the trail of celebrities in a revolutionary format” (CNN.com 2009). Kutcher said:

It's all fun and games until somebody gets stalked.

So, why tweet?

Mould your image

Regular postings on Twitter provide others a glimpse of their lives. That glimpse will shape your public image. Do your posts draw you as a slacker or a high-powered professional? Therefore, one should always think before posting because you can shape how other see you (Legal Technology 2008).

Widen your network

As a media practitioner, the importance of human connection is widely identified, both for personal enjoyment and professional growth. Hence, Twitter allows user to meet people from different network, other than the usual existing network. You would be surprise upon joining Twitter at the amount of contacts you made and how quickly you made them (ProBlogger.com).



References:

1. Ambrogi RJ 2008, Sixteen reasons to tweet on Twitter, viewed on 15 June 2009, <http://www.law.com/jsp/legaltechnology/pubArticleLT.jsp?id=1202426490041>.

2. Celebrity Tweet 2009, Stalk celebrities on Twitter, viewed 15 June 2009, <http://www.celebritytweet.com/>.

3. Duke A 2009, Kutcher threatens to stop Twittering, viewed 15 June 2009,
<http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/05/26/ent.kutcher.twitter/>.

4. McGiboney M 2009, Twitter's sweet smell of success, viewed on 15 June 2009, ttp://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/twitters-tweet-smell-of-success/>.

5. Rowse D 2007, Why Twitter isn't a waste of time, viewed 15 June 2009, <http://www.problogger.net/archives/2007/10/23/why-twitter-isnt-a-waste-of-time/>

6.Steroid.com 2009, Why do celebrities like Twitter?, viewed 15 June 2009, <http://stereoroid.com/culture/why-celebrities-like-twitter/>.