The news spread fast on Twitter.
Welcome back to our weekly Twitter column. Two weeks ago I wrote about how many people and businesses don’t get Twitter yet and tried to explain it using a metaphor. This time I will try a different approach based on a scientific study. The study by Korean researchers based asked whether Twitter is really social networking or something else. Most notably whether Twitter is similar to a news site.
The researchers have found out that Twitter is far less a social network than other sites like Facebook or even Flickr and far more similar to old school news sites. The press had difficulties to actually come to terms what Twitter is then. I have a very logical name for that baby: Social News Networking.
Twitter is like a peer to peer network for news.
It’s the Napster, Kazaaa or Bittorrent for news. You still network with other people but the purpose of it is not networking in itself but sharing news. So basically Twitter combines social networking and social news. Do you remember Digg? few years ago this was a seemingly popular social news site. It was very primitive and it tried to mimic newspapers by having a frontpage. It didn’t work though. Just recently Digg has announced layoffs.
Twitter has no front page, it’s a network.
It’s decentralized. You can still find out what’s popular but the news doesn’t depend on popularity. It depends on how good networkers people are. In case you don’t connect with other people well, nobody will listen to you. You can also have thousands of followers who are passive and not worth a dime/penny. So the news spread via the social network. This way even niche news have their place unlike on Digg where only lowest common denominator main stream prevails.
On Twitter the people are actually better connected than in real life.
While for real there are sixth degrees of separation on Twitter there are only four. It means that you are able o connect easier, faster with others and even with celebrities you would otherwise never communicate with. So news spread also faster on Twitter. Twitter changed the official purpose from “what are you doing?” to “what’s happening” a wgile ago and we all provide the news all the time in real time when it happens. Just two years ago the news about the DOW plunging 1000 points reached with instantly on Twitter.
Twitter is the best place to break and spread news.
We knew it all along. Now we have the scientific proof for it. How can we use this for our advantage? Make sure to connect with your followers in a lively way. The study also has shown that not the sheer number of followers determines the reach of each individual Twitter user but how active an account is.
Twitter is social news networking, so socialize and network to spread news. Don’t just collect followers like stamps. Make sure to talk with them.
Do you agree with my Twitter definition?
In case you don’t:
- Why not?
- What is Twitter in your opinion?
- How do you use it?
I agree with your explanation of twitter. I have used it for about 6 months and am loving it. I use it more to connect with new people on the web than to interface with friends, like on Facebook.
I love Twitter. You outline perfectly why it is so useful. I don’t read mainstream news anymore. I use twitter and social news sites such as digg, socialnews.biz and reddit. I find I get better news faster than using cnn, msnbc and the like.
It still amazes me how many people don’t really use twitter or don’t get its functionality. Twitter is so simple that its complex. Thanks for the post, RT’d u!
Its the best illustration of Twitter that I’ve come across so far on the web.
Yes- Twitter has no front-page, very fast and buildsa network of peers or like minded people.
Thanks for the post.
It depends what type of network you belong to. Many in social media will be in networks which do act as a news hub with links being shared and passed around. However, you will also find other networks where the emphasis is on commenting, witty remarks and much less on news. To describe it as a social news network is a little misleading. Twitter means different things to different people and that is why it is sometimes hard to explain to outsiders what it is all about.
I do agree that Twitter has become the best source for real time news. These lightning fast updates get confirmed by a hundred other people that post on the same subject within minutes. When you’re watching CNN or a news network on TV you can only watch one topic at a time, and only see one person’s or company’s viewpoint. This is what makes social media news more dynamic, rich and trustworthy. Social news networking is right on target for the correct Twitter defining term. Do you think Twitter will help or has helped to save lives because of its quick and quality news (in the case of natural disasters)?
I agree with how you described twitter. Everything is on twitter like daily news, personal updates, friends and family. It contains a lot of information just spread out because as you said, there’s no front page.
Dave: Of course it depends on the way you use Twitter personally but the overall purpose seems to have shifted.
Kingsley: That’s an excellent point! Indeed the faster news spread the more lives can get saved. On the other hand wrong news and panic spreads as fast and can cost lives as well.
Andrew: Indeed. On Twitter everybody is basically a news source even without noticing or aiming at becoming one.
defining “Twitter” as a social networking site ionly helps if you define what a social network is. I went to have a look at Twitter and the site wants my email address before I can enter. I never give my details to any site before I know what I’m signing up for, so you people can twitter away with out me. I don’t think I’m missing any thing. Of course if Twitter wants to pay me for my persoanl details I’ll reconsider the proposition
Twitter I hate to say is a fad. It’s has no function over what facebook or any social network already has. I don;t see more then two years for it’s shelf life.
Twitter can be very powerful to carry the news, I have many a time got the latest news happenings from twitter and not from reading the tabloids or watching the news on tv.