To get a better idea of how people use Twitter, it’s important to examine the types of users and accounts the platform hosts.
Students and a marketing expert weigh in on the true nature of Twitter. Though coming from different areas, all agreed that Twitter can often times feel overwhelming or underwhelming, depending on the type of content they keep up with. Twitter users range from individuals going about their daily lives, to companies needing to represent themselves on a social media platform in order to directly interact with their followers and customers.
Maddie Sligh, 20, a junior at the University of Denver, says that while she is not an avid user, she will sometimes turn to Twitter to stay on top of the news. “I just go on Twitter to follow other people, not to generate my own tweets. I go on to get a variety of different articles, Twitter does a good job at exposing you to a wide array of sources.” Maddie also reflects on whether Twitter has yet to take off.
“I think it’s already hit its prime…it’s becoming obsolete because there are other apps that do more socially. It’s used for marketing a lot of the times and that can get kind of annoying.”
Maddie thinks of Twitter as having “become really niche,” and goes on to explain that “it’s being used for different things than what it was once intended for.”
Mason, 21, also a junior at DU, is in the same boat as Maddie. He originally got Twitter in High School to use it comedically (by following parody accounts and tweeting out witty comments relating to popular culture) and socially, but now he says that it has evolved to be less about self expression for him. He credits this to the fact that his friends at DU don’t have it so he doesn’t feel like he needs it in order to stay connected. Mason also touches on the immediacty of Twitter,
“If there’s something that is happening right now, I would go on twitter to look at live tweets for a certain thing. Say, if theres a shooting in progress and theres a hashtag associated with that, I’d search the hashtag in real time.”
Twitter has made the transition from being a social site to being an immediate update/newsworthy site. Mason feels that this transition is overall really beneficial and with the help of this newfound purpose discovered by Twitter’s users, “It’s like Twitter is finally coming into its own.”
Twitter went live on March 21st in 2006, but it has come a long way since then. Doctor Theresa Connley, a Marketing professor at DU, feels strongly about Twitter’s evoltuion from a social media site to being more of a marketing and news platform.
“Twitter is now being used by people and companies, which is the most amazing evolution. People have evolved it to be an important aspect in our lives, especially when it comes to political activism and emergency updates.”
She went on to reference how using Twitter helped her stay updated on current trends during her startup business days. Dr. Connley thinks that while Twitter can be utilized effectively by a business, it doesn’t always mean they should have one. “You need to really know what you’re doing and know what you’re good at and have that authentic connection with your consumers.” Tn this day and age companies think they need to be on every social media site, but that isn’t always effective. According to Connley, it’s crucial for a company to think about their target market and what their needs are first.
Depending on the accounts you keep up with, the user ultimately determines what ends up on their newsfeed. This personalization of the newsfeed is Twitter’s biggest strength.
When it comes to social media, Twitter is it’s own kind of evolving beast-in the shape of a bird. What it all comes down to is the user, and how they decide to use it as a tool. Let the evolution continue.
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