Originally published by Daily Titan on October 2, 2010.
I have a confession to make.
Long before the average Joe jumped on the Twitter bandwagon, I made a vow to myself that I would never be a part of this frenzy.
I got multiple e-mail invites from friends and cousins to join Twitter but I sent those directly to the trash folder.
I am by no means an anti-social networking hipster; in fact, my social life on Facebook is booming. But the idea of reading mundane tweets about someone having poached eggs for breakfast just wasn’t exciting for me.
Well, of course the juicy tweets from celebrities promised a deep insight into their day-to-day lives, and that is why I found myself stumbling over their Twitter pages every once in a while.
But I didn’t need an account for that, so joining Twitter seemed pointless.
After all, who would want to read about what a crappy day I was having or what music I was listening to?
But now I follow around 364 profiles (and counting) on Twitter and give my newbie friends Twitter tutorials.
Hypocrite much? More like a conscious twit. I had to give in to my qualms about Twitter when my journalism professor asked all of his students to make a Twitter account.
Of course, from that point on, my tweets no longer merely consisting of news updates.
Late night study session rants and random thoughts were the order of the day. I had blindly jumped on the Twitter bandwagon too.
Although I still try to avoid using Twitter for announcing to the world that I am about to hop into the shower, I have discovered a new side of Twitter that makes it an indispensable social networking site.
It has changed the way people stay up-to-date with current news and voice their opinion to millions of people out there.
It has something to offer to everyone because of the wide range of profiles that one can follow.
From the New York Times to your local sushi place, every business is just waiting to be followed.
It is not just us, the average Joes and Janes, who find Twitter amusing.
Celebrities have been quick to regard the micro-blogging service as their literary salvation.
140 characters can’t exactly make or break their careers, but what they tweet makes a lot of difference and creates quite a stir in the industry.
Stars have made it a habit to tweet their breakups, upcoming projects or late night musings.
They claim to use Twitter to connect with their fans directly, but I think it also lets them clear away or confirm any rumors flying around about them.
Some celebrities take their Twitter rants to an extreme level and later face the consequences.
On Sept. 17, Lindsay Lohan took to her Twitter page to confirm the rumors that she had indeed failed a recent drug test and was working very hard to improve her condition. She also tweeted a sincere thank you to her fans for supporting her.
The recent celebrity to call it quits on Twitter is John Mayer, who claims that no one has created any “lasting art” on Twitter and calls the site “disposable.” Mayer has had his fair share of controversies and hopefully deleting his Twitter account will help him stop making any more controversial statements.
I realized the true strength of Twitter at the time of the recent deadly floods in Pakistan.
Local Pakistanis and the ones living abroad tweeted celebrities and international organizations asking them to raise funds for the flood victims.
The role of social networking sites was vital in raising awareness about the catastrophe because the initial coverage by the international news media lacked the depth and urgency needed to get a positive reaction from the rest of the world.
Celebrities such as Tom Cruise and Alyssa Milano started tweeting about flood relief initiatives.
And local bloggers in Pakistan joined forces through Twitter to visit flood-affected areas with food supplies and survival kits.
Twitter has the power to take a lone voice to millions of people, since tweets get “retweeted” and hashtags (# symbol placed with keywords) become trending topics.
Twitter is also an effective way to voice your opinion on an issue that you feel strongly about.
It’s an important tool for aspiring journalists to tweet their blogs and increase their readership.
Many of my classmates use Twitter to get news updates and find out what’s going on in the world.
With so many benefits, how could I have continued ignoring Twitter?
Some may regard it as the degeneration of effective communication and a waste of time, but it really depends on the individual – or twit if I may say – and how he or she uses it.
A tool used by both Snooki and the Dalai Lama would obviously have different uses for different people.
Now excuse me, I need to check out the picture Snooki just tweeted of her new hairdo.
