Technology Themed Thursday! TWITTER

I use Twitter, yes I do;

I use Twitter, how 'bout you?

A lot of people use twitter for microblogging or jotting down quick thoughts. A lot of other people use twitter to stay in contact with people and have active conversations. Still more people use twitter to describe every hour of their mundane lives. Some people hate twitter because of that. And some other people don't understand why twitter exists or how it could possibly be important.

Well, I am an advocate of twitter. I occasionally update with very mundane things ("going to class") but oftentimes I use it to talk to people, discover people, and really speak my mind, poetically or not ("Bruised up the ol' writing arm. I'm a pro"). I have complained on twitter and have been told to stop complaining on twitter. But there really is more to the picture than that.

What makes twitter revolutionary is the compatibility with almost any cell phone. If one doesn't have internet access on their phone, they can set options to get updates to and to send updates from one's phone via text message. This makes the spread of information increase tenfold in comparison to television or even web news. As soon as something happens and someone sends a quick tweet, a mass text or notification is sent to anyone following the individual and instantly they possess the same information.

How is this important?

A perfect example is the use of Twitter in Iran about a year ago. Countries like Iran and China have censorship on the kind of information that goes in and out of the country; it is controlled. But when stuff went down and people were demonstrating, what the government would have rather kept a secret, those who were involved or witnessed the event tweeted about it. The truth got out fast and there was nothing the country could have done to stop it.

As I had stated in a previous post, the smartphone is taking over as the number one media outlet. With this kind of instantaneous information going to and from these tiny devices, the information age is changing dramatically. Twitter is a very real reason why newspapers are going under. Television is also struggling as the stations can't get to events or get contacted fast enough to air it. Plus, Twitter information is not controlled by the media outlets agenda. Information comes from real people. That's as close to the truth as you can get.

Before I forget: follow me on Twitter! @sMarlo