Chirping Up the Twitter Tree

If anything was ever an overload of trivial information, Twitter would be the outlet for that and more. It was bad enough with people on Facebook very kindly informing you that they were going to the bathroom to take care of big two, Twitter now makes it filthily easy for them to keep you instantly updated with the dirty details.

What started out as a micro-blogging service has now chirped its way up the social networking tree to claim third place, following Facebook and YouTube. Twitter allows everyone who’s anyone with an account to post messages, known as tweets, of up to 140 characters for everyone to see — very much like SMSes, except tweets are more public, and free.

There is also the friend-ly aspect of it where you subscribe to, or follow, fellow tweeters so you receive every tweet that they decide to share with you, ranging from the minute chipped nail to the groundbreaking coming-out-of-the-closet moment. With a large enough follower base, anyone can become someone. This is probably the closest common folk can come to having an entourage.

What else do people use Twitter for?

News

Although one research team has defined as much as 40% of the 2,000 tweets they analyzed as “Pointless Babble” and 38% as “Conversational” according to Wikipedia, there is content amidst the constant chatter that is share-worthy. Because millions of people have succumbed to Twitterification, newspapers, magazines and everything else have also embraced the little blue bird to bring juicy updates and news to a nest of information-hungry birdlings.

You could follow your favourite sports team, your favourite celebrity, your crush, your ex, your ex’s girlfriend… you get the picture. Following @staronline would give you updates from The Star for instance, and following @VenusBuzz will ensure that you receive a constant supply of eye candy.

Trends

We already know that some people talk a lot, but we don’t always know what they’re talking about. Thanks to interactive functions such as mentioning (I think @twitter is awesome!)  and the use of hashtags (Wow, @VenusBuzz has some mouthwatering #eyecandy for you!), good news (and bad news) can circulate the entire globe before you finish making your cup of morning coffee.

Mentions make it easy to respond to tweets; hashtags categorize tweets using keywords for easy searching. These commands make it easy for us to spot who’s who and what’s hot in the deluge of information that is Twitter. In other words, you know that more and more people are coming out of the closet when you see #10confessions every half a minute or so. And if you’ve garnered enough @yourname mentions, then you know that you’ve made it in social networking – you’re simply Twitterific.

Crowdsourcing (a.k.a. ask a question and get loads of answers)

Sometimes you want to get down and personal with burning questions like whether you should go for bubble milk tea and bear with the calories or opt for frozen yoghurt and bear with the calories. Who better to solicit answers from than your faithful entourage?

Maybe you’re considering the new iPhone 4S. You can read favourable reviews all you want, but when you have 10 people tell you straight up that the bang isn’t worth the buck, chances are your decision to acquire Apple’s latest toy will waver more than what 10 negative reviews can do to shake your predetermined resolve. Even Siri’s response would be a far cry from their counsel.

This is of course due to the real feedback that you get from real people, sometimes known as peer pressure.

Revolutions

Twitter is a great way to keep up with trends, but the real deal is when social trends facilitate or evolve into revolutions. Of course, not all trends are note worthy. When one goon decides to start a trend for the sake of starting a trend, and other goons follow suit, you have a wonderfully useless trending topic. This demonstrates, apart from mindlessness, people power – and that is really what social media stands for.

With enough voices, people can overthrow governments (Egypt Revolution), stage massive protests (SOPA and PIPA) and throw birthday parties. Just remember your hashtags, and you’ll have enough publicity by the time you’re through with breakfast.

Chat

If nothing else takes your fancy, Twitter still serves as yet another messaging tool for you to keep up with your buddies: what they’re doing and what they’re thinking, in a very quick and personal setting, Especially when the Grammys are on and everyone goes tweet crazy, and you simply must show your support for Adele.

Do you use Twitter? How do you use it and why?

Follow us on Twitter! @VenusBuzz

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