To Twitter or Not to Twitter… That is the Question!
Avery Reeder
April 30, 2009
Filed under Technology, Top Stories
Arriving home after school, you drop your backpack, kick of your shoes, and head straight for your room. Then what? Homework or computer? Procrastinators like myself turn to the computer to update statuses, check endless notifications, receive emails, and catch up with friends that you saw just a couple hours ago at school. What’s the point in wasting all this time?
Keeping up with your social life is hectic and time consuming. Websites such as Facebook and MySpace let you know what’s going on in your friends’ life through statuses, and allow you to post and share pictures, videos, bulletins, and notes. But what if there was an easier way to share with your buddies what you’re up to without having to check ceaseless notifications and messages? This is why Twitter was created. It’s a form of technological networking created so you can immediately share with your friends what you are doing at that exact moment in your restless day.
When first signing up for Twitter, you send and receive “tweets” via computer, cell phone, or another hand-held device. Though some say this is exactly like text messaging, instant messaging, or emailing, Twitter can in fact send the same tweet to up to thousands of people in the same instant.
Twitter was first debuted in March 2006 and was a huge hit. Twitter users range from teenagers to co-workers, and celebrities to politicians who use the site to keep in contact with their friends, co-workers, fans, and constituents. The website has almost fourteen million users who utilize an average of thirty minutes per day, posting a total of about 2.25 million tweets.
Although Twitter is used for contact and sometimes even work, there are a couple of inadequate aspects about the system. To start, the website can be a distraction. For example, a survey shows that most tweets are sent from a workplace during work hours. Workers should be busy during their job rather than tweeting. Another down side to Twitter is the small character limit. In a text message, the character limit is 160 characters, compared to tweets which are limited to 140 characters. Also, emails are unlimited in characters, whereas instant messages may be very long, but still limited.
Twitter is a clever invention, but only commendable when used appropriately. When you should be busy studying for tomorrow’s math quiz, sending tweets probably isn’t the smartest idea. Letting Twitter completely take over your social life isn’t keen when you should be focusing on your spiritual and educational life. Catching up once and a while with your friends on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter isn’t abominable, but it shouldn’t consume your life.