#SocialMediaforChange

Twitter.com started as a site that was used for socializing. People would follow other people to see what’s going on in their lives. 140 characters or shorter was the only way to get it across for a long time. Then, Twitter introduced pictures and video options on their site. This added to the experiences that people might not have been able to share in just words. Twitter allows people to stay updated with people.

 Now, Twitter is not only used for socializing and marketing but also microblogging. Microblogging is small frequent posts. All types of people microblog in today’s society. The President of the United States - Donald Trump (@realDonaldTrump), the Pope (@Pontifex), and everyday celebrities and people such as news stations (@WGRZ), Sophia Bush(@SophiaBush) and organizations (@PPact) microblog. These people are microblogging while using their twitter for socializing and marketing. Microblogging is a great way for people to be known for standing for a certain cause (activists).

 Live tweeting is a part of microblogging. When you’re watching a television station you may notice a hashtag sometimes in the corner of a show. This means that the show wants you to live tweet along with the new episode. This curates talk about them show, helps with views, and keeps the show on tv. If you’re a creator the best thing that can happen is that people talk about your show so much is gets another season. Microblogging on twitter is helping this.

Another way to microblog is in instances of crisis’. There are many instances when microblogging came into play in a crisis. There was the attack on Paris and the Boston Marathon where Twitter was used greatly to update citizens on what was going on. The victims of the attacks would be tweeting that they were alright, certain details, and certain pictures to help understand what was going on. Fellow citizens would tweet out information to spread the word about the attacks.

This is where microblogging gets tricky. As users of the social media world we can take everything on there and run with it. False information and accusations of people jumping to conclusions was on Twitter during these attacks. People who didn’t know any better were retweeting the wrong information. When false information is being put on the internet about such a serious issue it makes the investigation longer. The false information could have added time on to the work the police were doing and creating suspects they had no part of it. Microblogging can be great but when it’s not being wrongly used by trolls on the internet.

Twitter can be useful to journalists and organizations. Most organizations and journalists are verified tweeters or are verified by the media they represent. This helps the journalists and organizations to be trusted. Twitter is a great tool for journalists to have because users choose to follow that journalist because they relate to them in some way. Journalists microblog certain stories they’re working on. This gives a preview to viewers of the upcoming story. For a journalist, this pulls viewers in and makes them interested in a story they’re working on. Organizations also use twitter. Organizations tweet out what they stand for, how they plan to help and ways that other people can help. Journalists and organizations using twitter let’s people hear from each of them first. It is the users own words which can be great most times. It’s when either of them makes a tweet that is widely offensive or taken the wrong way that can be damaging. If the tweet becomes popular it could ruin the image of the station the journalist is working for or the image of the organization that the twitter user tweeted out.

Three events where twitter was useful in the past twelve months were the Steve Stephens murder, the Italy earthquakes, and the Syria attack. The Steve Stephens case started on Facebook. This man by the name of Steve Stephens live streamed himself murder a stranger for an audience to see. The video went viral and there was a concern in the areas of PA, NY, and Ohio because the man was on the loose. Twitter was were most people learned about it because of the ability to Trend Topics or read under the “explore” tab. There was concern over this man because he was considered dangerous. People retweeted his picture and his car and warned others what he had done and to report him. He was reported to the police by a McDonald’s employee because they noticed Steve from social media. The Italy earthquakes happened in January of 2017. There were four major ones in central Italy. The Earthquakes destroyed towns and injured several people. The news of the Earthquakes broke out on Twitter. The people of Italy were able to inform every one of these events by posting photos of the towns that were hit the hardest. Citizens deemed themselves safe and asked for help through Twitter. Twitter is a great place for donations in tough times. Lastly, the attack on Syria stirred up a lot of emotions for people. Innocent people were gassed in Syria by Assad, their leader. This raged other countries such as the United States. There were awful images and videos of children and people who were gassed going around. It made the event more real and it left an impact. The United States in turn fired missiles at Syria to let Assad know that people weren’t just going to let him gas his own country. There were links going around for relief and help to those in Syria.

Twitter is great for following activist and groups of activists. Feminist’s movements are something that curates a lot of power and motivation in today’s society. Not just white feminism either. Intersectionality feminism is something great to keep up with on twitter. There is certain Twitter pages that let you know what you can do as a feminist to help. Twitter is different when you’re using it as a professional to help be an activist or if you’re an organization because of the way you have to address people and matters. You’re not allowed to be objective when you’re being professional. This can be very hard on Twitter because of the tone the website and its users created. Overall, Twitter is a great site for change especially because its users have the power.