I literally can not go anywhere without hearing about Twitter. It’s on my phone, its on my nightly news, its in the magazine I read. Hey, its even my homework assignment sometimes! Although overwhelming at times, I don’t think I would be so quick as to criticize Twitter. Chuck Tyron wrote a great article Why You Should Be on Twitter. He debunks what Twitter Critics have been saying and gives a pretty thorough glimpse at Twitter. Even one who doesn’t have a Twitter account can see eye to eye with him. Tyron’s article is a bit lengthy when your just diving in to it but there are a couple of key points he is getting at. Twitter is one of the new emerging technologies and we should embrace it. Twitter is not journalism nor it is trying to masquerade as such. In fact, Twitter is great in the fact that it use 140 character messages to spur conversations. These conversations and debates usually lead to great journalism and in depth blogging later on.
I’ve had my Twitter account for a couple months now and I think I am finally learning the ropes. At first I was not following anyone except for celebrities and I hardly posted any Twitter updates. For a week or so I was TOO hooked on it and got a little carried away. Now that I understand the technology a little bit better I can truly use it to my advantage. I connect with professors, classmates, news stories and yes, still the occasional celebrity. It is easy to get lost in the Twitter sea among all the tweets out there but don’t be so quick to judge. If you actually utilize Twitter you realize that it is what you make of it.
