Date:20/03/2011 URL:
http://www.thehindu.com/2011/03/20/stories/2011032060911000.htm
National
Happy Birthday Twitter
Deepa Kurup
BANGALORE: Five years ago, answering a simple question like 'What are you
doing?' in 140 characters seemed pointless, even impossible, back then when
bloggers
took pride over how detailed or nuanced their entries were.
When in 2009, the folks at Twitter changed the vital question that everybody
was answering to 'What's happening?' it indeed reflected a shift in how we
perceived microblogging. From mundane updates on breakfast, lunch, and dinner,
to a snappy tool - thanks to mobile phones - that allowed people to reflect
on what's happening around them, Twitter has come a long way. On March 21, it
will be five years since Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey sent out the first
tweet, a short and not-so-chirpy message: "inviting co-workers."
Those who dismissed it as fad, were proven wrong last week when Twitter
released the following statistics: in the past year, average tweets per day
jumped
from 50 million to 140 million (last month). Twitter continues to expand
globally as a source of information, first-hand. So today, it continues to tell
us what is happening around us, be it in the Middle East from where journalists
and citizens continue to tweet live updates on the volatile situation,
or closer home, where you can use your phone to track #wc11 even if you're
nowhere near a TV or a computer.
But it wasn't until early 2008 that India warmed up to Twitter. Then,
restricted to the technologically fluent ones, this curious medium where you
had 'followers'
instead of 'friends,' barely caught the fancy of the Orkut generation that had
just graduated to Facebook. "Now what's this new-fangled thing?" asked many,
dismissively; others simply found it all too bland.
And then came the celebrities. From the most media-shy Bollywood actors to
cricketers, businessmen and politicians, they were all chirping on the Twitter.
So we saw a tweeting Minister get into serious trouble, celebs fighting
bitterly and ordinary citizens using the medium to express their angst against
corporate media; everyone took this service, and carved their own functionality
out of it.
Says Gautam John, an IP lawyer who goes by twitter handle @gkjohn: "What's nice
is that it is a really easy and convenient way to follow not just news but
also individuals from across multiple verticals of interest." This nearly
3-year user feels the user base has changed. "When I first joined, discussions
seemed to focus more around technology pivots but it's wonderful to see that
there is so much more than just that - humour [Ramesh Srivats, for instance]
or warmer personal anecdotes like from MumbaiCentral," he explains.
Infamous tweet
Last year, when diplomat-turned-parliamentarian @ShashiTharoor courted
controversy over his infamous 'cattle-class' tweet, politicians sat up and took
note.
Today, all political parties, and many politicians, are on board. Sensing an
opportunity to connect, many public agencies followed suit. India Post, for
one, was among the first departments to hop on in 2009. Commenting on their
experience, their candid blog entry reads: "While we discovered tremendous
goodwill, we also realised there are many areas, where we fall below customer
expectations."
Interestingly, it proceeds to add that while Twitter has been rewarding, they
feel a need for strengthening two-way communication through "longer and more
meaningful discussions." For this, they're setting up, they announced, a blog.
Coming full circle now, are we?
Renuka E,
Section Officer,
ICT Centre for Visually Challlenged,
CHMK Library,
University ofCalicut,
Malappuram Dist.,
Kerala.
To unsubscribe send a message to
accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in
with the subject unsubscribe.
To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please
visit the list home page at
http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
