COMM140: To Tweet or not to Tweet

Twitter is a microblogging network that was created just over 11 years ago in March of 2006. It is rated number 8 in the top “60 Most Popular Social Networking Sites of 2017”, with approximately 320 million users as of June 2017. It is one of the biggest influencing websites with the likes of politicians, singers, actors and actresses signing in daily.

Many influencers post every day to their followers, and their followers to them, this is where the issue of “To Tweet or Not to Tweet” arises.

Influencers receive thousands of tweets on a daily basis, a mix between crazy fans and brutal hate tweets. With Twitter being a public platform, tweets are accessible by the world, despite the thousands of tweets that influencers are receiving- there is always a chance that they could spot 1 tweet from the crowd.

Many users abuse Twitter in order to heckle influencers, sending horrible hate comments to celebrities they have never met and in some cases provoking them to respond.

Source: https://twitter.com/jk_rowling?lang=en

Although JK Rowling took a rather humorous approach, the comment itself that was initially directed at her was vulgar and disgusting. To think that influencers receive tweets like this daily is just disturbing to say the least. No one should have to read tweets directed at them personally intended to harm their integrity.

Not only that but if you are going off into a vicious rampage targeting celebrities under an account that uses your credentials such as your first and last name and your employer or potential employer stumbles across the account, there is a slim chance that you will have a job following that.

Whether it be celebrities posting about their Starbucks Coffee or Politicians posting about the recent Same-Sex Marriage Plebiscite, everyone needs to be conscious about the impact their tweets can have.

Think before you Tweet.

References:
J, Jamie. (2017). 60+ SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT IN 2017. Retrieved from: https://makeawebsitehub.com/social-media-sites/

1 comment:

Mr Ingin21 September 2017 at 22:34
G’day Alicia,
I’m a great fan of the “to tweet or not to tweet” argument, and had great fun reading your blog. Your overall conclusion of caution is validated by your arguments, and I especially loved the example of what J.K. Rowling received, and how this can damage someone’s self-confidence and integrity. I would recommend you spend some time defining what you mean by “influencers”, and giving some examples of people who have used Twitter to spread their messages, and how many people follow them. Then I would really know how powerful Twitter can be. If you want to expand on the dangerous world of Twitter, this article is really good: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/for-flacks-twittersrisksrewards-098050
Really loved the blog. Keep it up!!