Tweet this, tweet that, tweet everything. But has Twitter done all that it will do?
Twitter, which has gained increasing traffic and use since its inception in 2006, has permeated all forms of media.
Broadcast television is constantly asking viewers to tweet-in their views, opinions, or the latest news. Newspapers, blogs and magazines all use Twitter to bring the latest news to followers. Businesses use it to update customers on hot new items. Hollywood celebrities and Average Joes tweet every single action of their lives, sending their feelings and movements into the internet abyss.
What is A Tweet
A Tweet is a message of 140 characters, that is often known as micro-blogging. It has been argued that Twitter could replace e-mail, text-messaging and instant messaging because of its ability to be accessed on a cell phone, smart-phone, and computers with just one account. However, it seems that Twitter has run its course and has nothing more to contribute to society, except being an annoying word.
Twitter in College
Twitter continues to grow despite users’ inactivity. It allows for users to be passive viewers of the site, following the accounts of others rather than working to update their own.
Also, Twitter is often misused and misunderstood. Unlike Facebook, which nearly every student uses daily, Twitter has not gained the same social clout. It has a negative connotation of being a nuisance in a way that Facebook never experienced. Many often ask the question of what is appropriate to tweet and who really cares about your tweets.
Twitter also suffers from not being a necessity. Facebook is so fused into much of our social lives that it is at times hard to live without. Twitter is something a college student can easily live without. In fact, many students are better off without Twitter because if someone has a tweet they will probably make it their Facebook status instead.
Twitter’s Last Hope
Twitter may have one last chance. In the constantly changing realm of communication, text messaging is the newest and most popular medium for communication. As smart phones continue to be the norm and messaging plans are factored into our monthly cell phone plans, Twitter could be adopted as the free text messaging option. If widely adopted, this could be Twitter’s opportunity.
This idea gained some backing when it was discussed that Apple Inc. might purchase Twitter over a year ago, although those plans did not come to fruition.
Unless something significant happens, Twitter will stay on the course it is on now; gaining inactive users. So until then feel free to tweet away … or wish you never had to hear the word Twitter again.
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