Twitter

 This week in New Media, we have been discussing Twitter and its role in social media. I am extremely new to Twitter, so this week's blog post was interesting for me. It reads 'Mashable.com offers a shocking statistic. Only 7% of Americans are on twitter; while half of Americans are on Facebook. With the recent protests in Egypt and the unrest in Libya, social media sites including Twitter have gained a lot of global attention. How are the numbers for the up and coming social media site Twitter so low? I found this to be shocking. Why do you think Facebook is a lot more successful than Twitter? Are you on Twitter? If you are, how would you describe Twitter to someone who doesn't use it? What is your purpose on Twitter? Who do you follow? and How often do you tweet? If you are not on Twitter, what has kept you from joining? Has the recent media attention made you consider joining Twitter? What do you think the purpose of Twitter is? Or are you confused about the purpose behind it?'

I feel that Facebook is more effective and popular as a form of social media because it gives users more options. On Twitter, you have the option to follow people, create a tweet with less than 160 characters, and re-tweet something that another person posted. On Facebook, you have the option to upload photos and videos and store them in an album, talk to your friends directly instead of through tagged posts, create notes if you have something to say that is more than 160 characters, display more personal information, and 'like' certain movies, people, groups, books, and music. From what I have experienced, this makes Facebook much more user friendly, and it appeals to a variety of people. Rather than appealing to only the people who wish to communicate in a limited number of characters, Facebook gives its users access to new media in a multitude of different ways.

I actually just started a Twitter account last week, and so far I am indifferent about the whole thing. I do like being able to see what my favorite celebrities and public figures have to say, and being updated on the news is a nice bonus. But at the same time, I find myself having a hard time keeping up with it. Most of the time I feel like I have nothing noteworthy, or even remotely important, to say. So far I have not tweeted more than five or six times, and I only follow about five people. I would say that the purpose of Twitter is to briefly interact with people who share your interests, as well as to keep updated with what's going on in the world. And to be honest, I would probably have a hard time explaining Twitter to someone who is unfamiliar with it, as I am still relatively unfamiliar with it myself.