There’s been a lot of buzz recently concerning Twitter’s stance in the social media world. After a huge decline of online traffic within the past year, rumors from headquarters suggested a change to the classic reverse chronological order feed to an algorithmic one in an attempt to revamp the platform.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey refuted the claims to keep #riptwitter at bay by denying any such change. While the Twitterverse is alive, it’s hardly thriving, which not only threatens hundreds of people’s jobs, but also puts an extremely useful social platform at risk of extinction.
When I first joined Twitter in 2012 I used it to record the ridiculous things my 10 year old campers said. But as I got older, wiser, and subsequently funnier, I used my refined humor to tweet original content no longer inspired by children at a weight loss camp.
For the past few years I’ve been totally immersed in the Twitter world. It’s been my outlet, my friend, and my source for current events. Instead of writing in a journal, I wrote 140 character sentences for everyone to see. Instead of reading a book, I read the live newsfeed. Instead of talking to a friend when I was upset, I turned to Twitter to boost my spirit. My thoughts were exclusively carried out in 140 characters and I mastered cutting down sentences
Clearly I am a huge fan of this amazing social media platform where anyone can become a (D-list) celebrity. While I use Twitter primarily as an outlet for creative thinking and entertainment, it’s not solely for having a good laugh.
Twitter has been useful in delivering breaking news to the public before the mainstream media could even get ahold of it. Remember the plane that crashed into the Hudson River in 2009? On his way to help rescue passengers from the flight, Jans Kums snapped a picture of the accident and used Twitter to spread the news.
This social media platform also played a strong role in pulling Spain out of a horrible economic crisis in 2011. #TheSpanishRevolution was an online movement created by respectable Internet celebrities to improve the democratic system. They fought for their rights through silent protests in every major city in Spain, and camping out in plazas. The Spanish government dug itself into a deep hole of high unemployment rates, and even higher housing prices, populated by incompetent and corrupt politicians, failing banks, and outraged Spaniards.
The movement, 15-M, was born on May 15 (which is how it got its name) when over 15,000 citizens camped out in the Catalunya Square in Barcelona (where my school CEA is located) chanting slogans like, “Fucking once every four years isn’t a sexual life, voting once every four years isn’t a democracy” while they received the short end of policemen’s sticks.
To make a long story short, Twitter played a huge role in pulling the country out of its crisis by utilizing the platform to organize silent protests and spontaneous gatherings that petitioned against the civil injustice from the government.
Considering the beneficial global impact Twitter has, I was absolutely shocked to hear about its possible death. It’s a live feed of what people around the world are feeling, seeing, and thinking; how it could not flourish among a generation of avid social media users who would rather Snapchat their food than eat it? Perhaps there is the problem – society has become so accustomed to watching videos, snapping photos, and being visually stimulated by photos of food that reading a maximum of 140 characters on Twitter has become too challenging and mundane.
It’s sad to see a progressive generation let such a useful tool for political activism, entertainment, and breaking news go to the grave. My message to everyone who thinks that Twitter is dying: pull your head out of your ass, and follow me on the best social networking service.
A Broad on a Budget 