Today, a popular social media platform is Twitter. It is a microblogging system that allows one to send and receive posts known as “tweets.” Tweets are generally short and have a maximum limit of 280 characters. Initially, it was only up to 140 characters long but now has been upgraded to 280 characters. These tweets include text and links to relevant websites and resources. The character count limitation is immaterial as it was seen that the most common length of a tweet was only 34 characters when the cap was 140 characters. Even with the limit getting increased to 280 characters, the average length of a tweet is only 33 characters. Statistically, only 9% of tweets used to hit Twitter’s 140-character limit but mowed down to only 1 %.
Just like any other social media channel, users follow other users. If one follows someone, then they can see their tweets in their Twitter ‘timeline’. One has the option to follow people and organizations with similar interests, be it academic or personal.
One can create their tweets or even retweet information that was tweeted by others. Retweeting allows information or messages to get shared quickly and widely among a large audience on this platform.
Why should one use Twitter?
Twitter is now a favorite among politicians, policymakers, celebrities, and the general public. Earlier, many users could not understand what Twitter is all about and how it can be operated. Still, now it has become the social media platform of choice for many users, including students.
One of the main USPs of Twitter is its snappy nature of tweets. The crisp format allows smartphone users who don’t want to read long content items on-screen to use Twitter.
Functions of Twitter:
Ø Allows one to promote their work by providing links to their blogs, articles, news, and journal items.
Ø Access to a large number of people through tweets and retweets. For new users on Twitter, the option to buy Twitter followers is also a good idea to build the initial base.
Ø Allows anyone to follow other experts’ work in the same domain and build relations with them and their followers.
Ø Keep abreast with the latest news and developments, share it simultaneously with others, and reach new audiences.
Ø Give and take feedback with others on any subject and keep the engagement level high.
Ø Contribute to events through online discussions which one cannot attend.
Ø Create one’s own identity as an individual.
Depending on one’s profile, either as an individual or a group or project, one can tweet accordingly. One may like to mix tweets about one’s research or any other stories, hobbies, or general observations if one has a personal Twitter account. Twitter allows one to showcase their talent and insight in non-academic aspects of one’s life, making one an interesting person to follow.
Suppose one is tweeting on behalf of an organization, project, or group. In that case, one can take the help of service providers such as SocialGreg. They can provide their expertise in allowing one to reach out to a large audience.
