We TWIT one another

(Source: asaresearch.wordpress.com)

Never heard of Twitter?

Okay, fine I believe that all of you are not living under a shell! Twitter is like a flow of mini blog posts. Its worth lies in your personal community of followers and whom you choose to follow. Twitter, as defined by Twitter.com (2009), is a complimentary service, which permits you to connect with people through the exchange of fast and frequent answers in simple questions like; how was your day? Alike to short messaging service (SMS), Twitter’s message character limits up to 140 characters (Steroid.com).

Everyone inclusive celebrities tweet. As of 15 June 2009, 838 celebrities tweeted on that day (Celebrity Tweet 2009).

(Source: Listropolis.com)

Moreover, Nielsen Wire's (2009) study indicated that Twitter users beat other social-networking sites like Facebook and Multiply. The numbers of Twitter users have multiplied tremendously over the years.

(Source: flickr.com)

The above bar charts shows how often do people Tweet per hour, per day and per month.

Near the beginning this year, Twitter’s top tweeter, movie star Ashton Kutcher challenged CNN in a pursuit to 1 million followers, which he won (CNN.com 2009). However, later on, Kutcher threatened that he will end tweeting if this micro-blogging company decided to work together with TV producers Reveille and Brillstein Entertainment on an unscripted show which “put ordinary people on the track of celebrities in a revolutionary format” (CNN.com 2009). Kutcher said:

It's all fun and games until somebody gets stalked.

So, why tweet?

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Shape your image

Regular postings on Twitter offer others a peep of their lives. That peep will shape your public image. Does your posts describe you as an idler or a high-powered expert? What it all take is just a brief update about your life and “ta…Dah!” The next thing you know, every on your Twitter knows it. Therefore, one should always think before posting because you can shape how others perceive you (Legal Technology 2008).

Broaden your network

As a media practitioner, the significance of human relation is extensively identified, both for personal pleasure and professional growth. Hence, Twitter allows user to encounter with people from different network, other than the usual existing network. You would be surprise upon joining Twitter at the amount of contacts you made and how quickly you made them (ProBlogger.com).

References

Ambrogi RJ 2008, Sixteen reasons to tweet on Twitter, viewed on 13 June 2010, [http://www.law.com/jsp/legaltechnology/pubArticleLT.jsp?id=1202426490041]

Celebrity Tweet 2009, Stalk celebrities on Twitter, viewed 13 June 2010, [http://www.celebritytweet.com/]

Duke A 2009, Kutcher threatens to stop Twittering, viewed 13 June 2010, [http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/05/26/ent.kutcher.twitter/]

McGiboney M 2009, Twitter's sweet smell of success, viewed on 13 June 2010, [http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/twitters-tweet-smell-of-success/].

Rowse D 2007, Why Twitter isn't a waste of time, viewed 13 June 2010, [http://www.problogger.net/archives/2007/10/23/why-twitter-isnt-a-waste-of-time/]

Steroid.com 2009, Why do celebrities like Twitter?, viewed 13 June 2010, [http://stereoroid.com/culture/why-celebrities-like-twitter/]