Twitter Isn't Just For "Twits"

Since its conception, journalism has changed in new and often unexpected ways. If you asked  ordinary citizens in 2000 what form journalism would take in 2012, I am sure many would respond that journalism would be largely online rather than in print. They would be right, however social media websites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ have changed the way journalists interact with and deliver content to their subscribers. Instead of being a one-way interaction of information, journalism is now a two way street between subscribers and journalists. However, out of the large social media sites, Twitter seems to be the best way for journalists to share their content in the most expedient manner and for their readers to interact with that content.

Twitter only allows users to post messages up to 140 characters. The 140 character limit may seem like a problem, but Twitter isn't meant to encourage extremely deep discussion like Facebook. A news publication can allow a quick headline of news to be shown and then followed up with successive posts or they can use a lead and follow up with a link to an extended story, usually on the website of the news outlet. Journalists also use Twitter as a way to promote their publication to a larger audience than was previously possible. Since Twitter is free and can be accessed by almost anyone in the world, users can view the publication's content free of charge with zero risk. Other users can "retweet" a news publication and provide a link to the original news source for their followers to view. It is a global network that works in favor of the journalists and users.

Journalists find Twitter as a good way to gather an aggregate of the public's opinion. Thanks to Twitter "everyone can be in the press box," says Robert Quigley of the American-Statesman. "In this new world, listening to the public is just as important as telling the story." He is right. Journalists and publications can now figure out how to present content that would be of interest to their followers and promote those stories more aggressively than before Twitter.

Some journalists may find Twitter pointless if they think of it as a replacement to more traditional forms of media. Twitter is meant to be a supplement, rather than a replacement.

It will be interesting to see what new social media developments will arise in the coming years. Will there be a platform that will overtake Twitter as journalist's preferred platform on which to break news? Will there be a platform that caters solely to journalists and their subscribers? Whatever happens, there is no doubt that Twitter has been instrumental in ushering in a new era in which news is now a give-and-take process between journalists and their subscribers.