Sunday, November 15, 2020

Living in Today's Twitterverse

 

The world of Twitter is an ever evolving one. Twitter is a communication-based application that allows users to express themselves in a count of 280 characters or less. The limited amount of characters can be restricting when one is trying to make a specific point or explain themselves in a way that requires more character space. However, the benefit of this limitation is that information can be delivered at a fast pace that can allow for more information received in the end.

            Although this application is primarily used for user to user communication, it has evolved over the years to become a marketing tool as well as and educational one. Everyone from actors to politicians to scholars express themselves with tweets. Users have their right to free speech, but this can also allow for misinformation to be published. As proven by the article “Political Advertising” even the POTUS can share information that is questionable, at best. This can often cause for misleading and confusing stances on any given subject matter.

            The Presidential election was used by Twitter recently to express political preference and campaigning. In this instance, it was used in both a positive and negative way. Supporters of the current president often used this application to encourage others to vote for him and were able to express negative narration when they so choose. This consistent, albeit overloaded, amount of information helped to shape the election and its outcome.

            Another instance of Twitter and its recent narration of an event would be the Covid-19 crisis. Users from around the world have accessed this platform to talk about what is going on in their part of the world and also reaching out to others to collect information. This also can allow for misinformation because tweets can sometimes be opinion biased. However, in this instance, most information is truthful because the population wants the situation to be improved.

            WHO (World Health Organization) and the Buffalo Bills Public Relations Department were two pages that offered a varied perspective of subject matter to follow on Twitter. There seemed to be more regular interaction from other users for the Buffalo Bills page and the WHO offered insight into third-world problems that are relevant in the culture of today. As a contrast, Joe Biden’s Twitter page offered a political view on content and what is regularly consumed by that arena of followers. Consistent and relatable content were displayed by the three pages, even in a world of Twitter posts that are not always such.

            Twitter has always been a different ‘type’ of social media that focuses mainly on sharing short bursts of information. This concept can sometimes be difficult to adjust to because this may not be a common writing style for many. In order to be efficient in this world of micro-blogging, one would have to adjust their writing accordingly. The Twitter world is not always correct, but it is always constant. Overcompensating for a limitation in writing style is often a driving force for Twitter users and continues the loop of never-ending need for information.