We already know that social media is a huge part of our society now. It seems that almost anyone you know or meet has a Facebook page. I'd say it's just about as common or typical as someone having a phone number or email address. I am sure that if someone told you that they didn't have a Facebook account, they would likely be met with a genuinely surprised reaction. Likewise, most people wouldn't have to think twice before going to YouTube anytime they are trying to locate any video whether it be a clip from a television show or movie, a commercial, a music video, sports highlight or viral hit. Certainly both of these social media sites have become so popular that they have been household names for quite some time and seem to be used by a majority of people not only in the United States, but around the world.
However, a third major player in the social media game is Twitter. Chances are good that most people have at least heard of twitter by now even if they've never used it or don't quite understand how it works. What separates Facebook and YouTube from Twitter is the fact that the former has a larger community of users than the latter, and a big reason for that probably has to do with the fact that both Facebook and YouTube have existed for a longer period of time. That being said, it's not as if the twitter community is small by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I would be willing to bet that the amount of users that are regularly active on their Twitter accounts actually outnumber the amount of people that pay attention to their Facebook accounts even if the number of 'users' are technically larger on Facebook.
The point is, despite the popularity and recognition that has already been achieved by Twitter, it is still up and coming and will eventually be as commonplace as the other two aforementioned social media outlets. In my opinion there are two main reasons why I believe this to be the case. It can be anonymous if the user chooses and it's functionality as a legit newsfeed is easier/faster to follow and share. I am sure that this can be argued as there are many different ways of sharing and communicating through Facebook, but Twitter is more impersonal, which makes it easier to access even if you aren't in the same loop or following the specific person that broke some news or spread some interesting content. Users can simply search all of twitter for a particular topic and see what people are saying about it and even interact with random users that they don't know and don't follow.
I personally like twitter more for its ability to spread news instantly than I do chatting with other users, but the full access that twitter allows makes it possible to intermingle and ask questions to celebrities, reporters, experts in their fields and more! In fact, there has been a recent movement in the twitterverse (as they like to call it) where the use of Twitter is being promoted on our television screens during our favorite shows. For example, Daniel Tosh posts topics on Twitter during the week and then uses the material sent in from fans for a segment on his show Tosh.0 on Comedy Central. Another example of the integration of Twitter and television was seen on the Comedy Central show, Workaholics during an episode where one of the characters was sporting a full length bear costume coat, fully equipped with a bear head hood. On the lower left corner of the screen was a watermark of the word 'Bearcoat' that was hash-tagged (#) to imply that by using said hash-tag on twitter, users could connect with all of the other users that were watching that episode at that time and tweeting about it with that same hash-tag. A similar strategy was used with the Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen by promoting the hash-tag, '#SheenRoast' in the weeks leading up to and during the event.
So Comedy Central has certainly embraced the influence and power of Twitter in our society and must have surely reaped the benefits in many ways, but they aren't the only network that has utilized Twitter during a broadcast. The NFL network ran a live stream of fan tweets on the bottom of the screen during the 2011 NFL draft coverage so that viewers could see the reactions of fans from all over the country. ESPN has recently taken this a step further by creating a show that is basically dictated by fan reactions and questions that are posted to a Twitter account that was created specifically for that show. This is not only a revolutionary way to create programming that literally speaks to its fans, but it is almost certain to achieve decent ratings because of the additional viewers that will make sure to watch just in case they are mentioned on air.
We have probably not even realized the true potential of Twitter yet, which sounds like a borderline ridiculous statement when we have already seen riots and revolutions being started and organized via Twitter, not to mention more than a couple of embarrassing humiliations of public figures all thanks to ill advised tweets. If you want to truly understand the impact that Twitter can have, just ask Anthony Weiner or anyone whom has received a promotional blue bird toy from the Twitter Investigation Unit.
63fbd041-e2c6-453f-88af-9a447f036f79|0|.0