Twitter: Passing Fad or Revolutionary Media?

Let me start of by saying that I do not have a Twitter account, nor do I ever see myself having one. That being said before I started researching this topic I believed Twitter to be full of narcissistic people with way too much time on their hands. But there was something about Twitter I had to acknowledge: its explosive rate of growth. So I was surprised when a breaking news report on CNN.com reported that Twitter could be peaking out. So what does the future hold for Twitter? Is it a passing trend or powerful new form of information?

It can't be denied that the number of Twitter accounts has leveled off since last year, but that doesn't convey the entire story. While the number of accounts hasn't been growing, the amount of activity of those users has been increasing. Twitter has begun to spread to other countries, with 51% of its users American in December as opposed to 61% in June. Also the original astronomical growth rates make the plateau of users seems more dramatic.

But so what? So Twitter's growth has slowed down, and the people using it are now using it more than ever. It's still filled with meaningless posts that have little relevance to your life. True...well not entirely. As more athletes, scientists, and prominent people begin to tweet, more important information is becoming readily available. Twitter becomes better as more people use it and begin different dialogues. And everyone seems to be acknowledging its easy, flexible capabilities. Businesses, advertising agencies, universities, all of them are cashing in on the easy exchange of information available on Twitter.

I still don't like the idea of Twitter, but unlike my dislike of Myspace, I might have to suck it up and accept that it could have more staying power than some other internet fads that have popped up recently. It allows for people to report breaking news before even the networks know about it (if you've ever watched ESPN then you know this happens quite frequently). And for that very fact alone it is valuable. This is an age where incredible amounts of information and opinions are right at our fingertips. And with only 140 characters Twitter seems to be paving the way with bite sized chunks.

Works Cited:

CNN "Has Twitter Peaked?"

The New York Times "Why Twitter will Endure"

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