As I wake up in the morning, I turn on my computer and go to three sites immediately: my gmail, to check email, Facebook, to see what my friends said in the few hours I was asleep, and Twitter, to see… what exactly?
Twitter has sprung up in popularity over the past few months as more and more celebrities promote its usage. Celebs from Ashton Kutcher to Pete Wentz use Twitter, which allows fervent fans like myself “follow” them to see what they are doing during every moment of their life. On Twitter, you are given a 140 character limit to tweet whatever you are doing, whether it be “Going to the movies with the girls” or “OMG, I just saw Beyonce and Jay-Z across the street!”. But wait, it doesn’t stop there.
You can reply to other “tweeters” by putting an @ symbol in front of their username. For example, if Demi Lovato just tweeted “I don't think I've ever been so sore in my life. Jetski's were not the best idea when I've got a show the next day.....”, I would say “@ddlovato I’m so sorry! Soak your arms and get lots of rest!” This is a convenient way of conversing with others, if you don’t feel like messaging them on Facebook, Iming them, or even just texting them. Is it really that important?
And then there are trending topics. More times than not, a celebrity will try to make something they support a trending topic, which are a long list of topics that have been tweeted about in a large quantity over the past few hours. Current trending topics include “Tweets Are Pointless”, “#WELOVEyoumiley”, and “America’s Got Talent”. This brings me back to another question: Why do we need Twitter?
While it may seem that I don’t like Twitter, it is quite the opposite. I enjoy reading the short thoughts of my favorite bands, as well as what my friends are doing. For me, reading tweets gives me a short and sweet view into the lives of others, which is all that I need to know them better. Twitter isn’t complicated like Facebook, with all its poking, walls, and status updates (which are essentially like tweets). Though it isn’t for everyone, Twitter is a fun social networking site that lets you tweet from anywhere, anytime, anyplace (as long as you have cell phone connection!)
