Twitter is a social network, founded in 2006 as a microblogging social network. Microblogging itself is a system where users write short posts, which are then commented, shared, and rated by other users. Over the years, Twitter has evolved into one of the most dominant social networks and is now used by hundreds of millions of people. Its main advantages are speed and the ability to disseminate the latest news from around the world. To make posts more trackable and relate them to specific topics, #hashtags are used. The advantage is that one can easily find all posts on a particular topic under a particular hashtag.
Twitter and the Spread of News
As the number of users of this network increased, information began to spread and became popular among journalists due to the speed at which information spread. They could easily find out from such news what was of interest and write about it. Over time, however, Twitter also became the home of politicians and political parties. The ability to send out short, concise messages can be used in election campaigns and as part of long-term communication with voters. Politicians have learned to write short posts about their work, thereby providing potential voters with material that demonstrates the benefits of their work. The largest politician to date to use Twitter is current U.S. President Donald Trump. It is no exaggeration to say that thanks to his skillful use of this social network, Trump was able to win enough voters to get elected and thus beat his opponent, Hillary Clinton.
This case is one of the first instances in which social networks were able to have a significant impact on the course of history, or rather on the election of the head of state of one of the most important countries in the world.
This example clearly shows the direction that communication and news dissemination will take in the future. Those who like to be in the middle of things should try following Twitter instead of scrolling through photos on Instagram.