The Rise of Twitter

Since its user base exploded at the beginning of this year Twitter's impact on Facebook has already been noted; Twitter is fast becoming the first site you'll subconsciously find yourself refreshing during a quiet moment at work. Facebook now feels something like a ghost town just as tumbleweed blew through MySpace when Facebook first took hold.

Twitter, for the uninitiated, is essentially a means of broadcasting thoughts and observations to people following you. All ‘Tweets’ or messages mst b undr 140 chrctrs. So a feed of messages from friends might sound suspiciously like the cavalcade of 'ATE A BANANA LOL' messages whizzing before your eyes on Facebook, but unlike other social networks Twitter's genius lies in its simplicity. It has conquered the problem of social networking fatigue by offering less, not more, and this is a simplicity which means Twitter is easy to use and update on your phone. Liberating communication from the desks and offices is a crucial element of Twitter; it's the first truly mobile social network.

Then there’s the informative side of the Twitterverse. Twitter was how I found out that the King of Pop was no more. There are no more secrets with Twitter; a whisper becomes a murmur, which becomes a shout, which becomes an uproar. Traditional news operated on a 24-hour cycle. Blogs shortened this to minutes and hours. Twitter shortens it further to seconds. It's not right for every piece of information. It's certainly not well suited for longer analysis. But when it comes to instantly accessing raw data from several sources that then turn into fully baked news stories, nothing beats it.

Another selling point for Twitter is how accessible it makes famous people. Hardcore Twittevangelists like Stephen Fry, Barrack Obama and Philip Schofield fill followers in on their daily routines. Could Twitter spell the end of ’celebrity’ as we know it? Well, part of the appeal of celebrity culture is that we DON’T know everything about our idols. But I think Twitter will probably just redefine ‘celebrity’ - Big Brother creates celebrities from nobodies with little or no personality, Twitter creates celebrities who can pack their personality and character into just 140 characters. Sometimes those 140 characters can land you in hot water though, Jonathan Ross accidentally revealed his personal email address, Coutney Love is being sued for defamation after Twittering abusively about a designer.

There is definitely something to be said for the simplicity of Twitter.

Follow Joe and Sarah on twitter!

July 2009