It Seems Like Everybody’s Tweetin’
NBA players, actors, neighbors, students, teachers, preachers, employers, employees, journalists, and protesters in Iran. What do all of these people have in common? They’re all using Twitter to update the world about what’s going on in their neck of the woods.
Twitter is a free social networking medium that allows users to send text messages (Tweets) that are 140 characters or less. These messages can be viewed in real time around the world via a computer or mobile phone device.
The beauty of Twitter is that you, the reader (follower), get personal and immediate accounts of what’s going on. At a recent NBA game, a Hall of Fame basketball player Tweeted throughout the game to update his fans (followers) on Twitter about the game from his perspective.
More recently protesters in Iran have been using Twitter to organize rallies and engage the world in what’s going on with the Iran Elections and protests. Many comments and images have been uploaded right from the streets of Iran. These comments are play-by-play accounts of what’s going on.
Since the Iranian government has restricted journalists from what it considers unauthorized demonstrations, we may have never read reports or seen images of what’s unfolding there without Twitter. Is this a new form of journalism? Are these Tweeters now considered citizen journalists? The fact that people are using Twitter and other social-networking services to get the word out shows the growing influence of online social-networking.
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