Omar Abdulla
CJG-1103
Twitter:
Social Networking
Introduction:
Twitter is a social
networking website that incorporates a micro-blogging integration so that users
are able send and read small blog like posts known as tweets. Since it’s conception, Twitter has
attracted more than 200 million active users and is one of the top 10 visited
sites on the Internet (Twitter.com Site
Info, n.d). This essay will discuss the early history, development,
modern development, and success of Twitter.
Early
History:
While studying as a full
time undergraduate in New York University, Jack Dorsey was struck with the idea
of creating the trendy website. The word “twitter” when defined means -
"a short burst of insignificant information, and chirps from birds"
(Sano, 2009). Jack Dorsey thought that the definition of the word matched the
concept of the site, which is communicating with a small group as an SMS type
of conversation (Sano, 2009).
Development:
Jack Dorsey completed the
development of Twitter in March 2006, and launched it by July of the same year.
Twitter’s
breakthrough came in 2007’s South
by Southwest interactive – a film,
interactive, and musical conference in Austin, Texas (Twitter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 2013).
During the event, the usage of Twitter messaging increased significantly from
20,000 to 60,000 tweets per day. Many of the people attending the conference
used Twitter as a way to keep tabs on what is going on in the conference. In
addition, Twitter messages were being displayed for the people attending, this
served as publicity for the social networking site. Twitter’s undeniable success rate
was unmatched the number of tweets grew to 100 million tweets per quarter in
2008. By June 2012, Twitter has surpassed 500 million users around the world, and
140 million of them in the United States (Lunden, 2012).
Modern
Developments:
Celebrity endorsements are
considered to be major contributions to the company’s lap of luxury. The attractions
of some of the world’s most
exceeding familiar faces from reality star Kim Kardashian to pop singer Britney
Spears. Artists usually keep their fans posted about their news, by either
giving them updates on their release dates or giving them an inside peak on
their personal lives. In addition, 95% of the teams in all sports use Twitter
to talk to the fans, get their opinions, and inform them of the latest news,
signings, or results. Twitter became so infused into our everyday life and pop
culture that even the candidates for the Whitehouse used it to promote their
campaign with a constant update.
In order to further expand
the usage, the company virtually “localized” their website so that it
could cater to the rest of the world on an international scale. A strong
example of international usage would be the infamous Arab spring of 2011 (BBC News - Twitter Arabic, Farsi, Hebrew and Urdu
version launch, 2012). Many believed that one of the most
prominent factors leading to the revolutions would be the social networking
website Twitter.
Success:
There is no doubt that Twitter
has proved to be one of the top social networking website of our time. Having amassed
an unprecedented number of users through a relatively short period of time,
saying that 7 of every 10 people have Twitter is no surprise.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, Twitter revolutionized the social networking world
in many ways where it has been described as the SMS of the web (Twitter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 2013). Since its start, it has been experiencing
rapid growth, and by the efforts and the innovation of its makers, the journey
of Twitter won’t stop here.
Word Count: 589
Bibliography:
BBC News - Twitter Arabic, Farsi,
Hebrew and Urdu version launch. (2012, March 7). BBC - Homepage. Retrieved
March 27, 2013, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17286684
Lunden, I. (2012, July 30). Analyst:
Twitter Passed 500M Users In June 2012, 140M Of Them In US; Jakarta Biggest
Tweeting™ City | TechCrunch. TechCrunch. Retrieved March 27,
2013, from http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/30/analyst-twitter-passed-500m-users-in-june-2012-140m-of-them-in-us-jakarta-biggest-tweeting-city/
Sano, David. "Twitter creator
Jack Dorsey illuminates the site's founding document. Part I -
latimes.com." Blogs - latimes.com.
N.p., 18 Feb. 2009. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.
<http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/02/twitter-creator.html>.
Twitter - Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia. (2013, March 25). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved
March 27, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter
Twitter.com Site Info. (n.d.). Alexa
- The Web Information Company. Retrieved March 27, 2013, from
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/twitter.com
