Wednesday 14 September 2011

Twitter time!

DISCLAIMER: This entry is independent of my main blogging purpose.  This is a blog for my Public Relations class.

Like many others, I was hesitant about joining the Twitterverse.  I thought people who tweeted were self-absorbed narcissists who assumed that every mundane detail of their lives was important and therefore must be shared with the world.  I made fun of individuals who believed that what they had for lunch was of any interest to anyone.

Well, I am eating my own words now.

I do not consider myself an avid tweeter, having only released a little over 200 tweets since I've been a member. However, I have found my own ways of enjoying the website, including news consumption.

Months ago, I realized that as a future CreComm student, I would need to be incredibly up to date with the news.  I needed something that would provide the news from many sources on a single medium.  Then it hit me.  Twitter!

Twitter allows me to follow many news organizations at a time, so I can read the news from all sorts of sources on one medium.  Currently I am following @ctvwinnipeg, @globeandmail, @CBCNews, and more.

I believe Twitter is a useful tool for communicators because Twitter is evidently a form of communication.  In general, social networking sites are successful and well-established means of communication.  In the past, people communicated through speech, through the telephone, through radio, and through television.  Through the Internet, messages can be sent to and read by a wider audience.  On Twitter, people are able to say whatever they want (within 140 characters) and it will be read by an audience.  The Internet is likely the only place where a message can reach over millions of people.  It is powerful in that sense, but it is also dangerous.  Once you click "send", it belongs to the Internet.  It is a form of communication that must be used carefully and wisely.  Tweet responsibly.  This last part mostly goes out to my fellow CreCommers, because we know that our instructors are watching our every virtual move. . . .

1 comment:

  1. I agree - more "responsible" tweeting - no more tweets about eating sandwiches!

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