News on Twitter
Twitt
er is one of my favorite “news” tools. Notice, I did not say “social media” tools. Apple is now classifying Twitter as a “news” app rather than a social media app. This makes sense when we realize that Twitter is about real time happenings.
Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service which allows users to post “updates” (or “tweets”: text-based posts, up to 140 characters long) that can be seen by anyone, anywhere in the world. Twitter is also a Direct Message platform, where users who follow each other can send short instant messages to each other privately. Many companies, organizations of all kinds (including the Vatican, dioceses, parishes, and religious communities) and individuals have Twitter accounts and tweet regularly.
Twitter was launched in 2006. In 2013, it went public. Like Facebook, it continues to add new features to please and engage its users. It makes income through advertising and data sales.
If you want instant, real-time news about anything happening anywhere, you can usually find it on Twitter. Whether its politics, sports, religion, entertainment, education, news, weather, whatever, if something is happening, someone is probably tweeting about it.
In October 2015, Twitter Added a New Feature Called Moments.
Mo
ments feature the biggest stories or events happening in real time as curated by Twitter and “select partners.” You get to Moments by clicking on the lightning bolt.
Across the top of your screen, you can view the categories that these Moments fall into such as 2016 Election, NBA Finals, News, Fun, Entertainment, etc. These change as the featured stories change. When you find a story you are interested in, you scroll (on the computer) or swipe (on the mobile device) to see the main Tweets (images, videos) that go with it. For more details about using Moments, click here.
News and Social Media
According to a 2016 study by the Pew Internet Center, 62% of U.S. adults get news on social media. 18% do it often. Sixty-six percent of Facebook users get news on Facebook, 59% of people using Twitter, get news there. If you want to learn more about news and social media platforms read News Use Across Social Media Platforms 2016 which reports the findings of the study.
My Use of Twitter
I use Twitter to get news (national, international, religious and secular) and information (mostly about Internet ministry, Internet marketing and a little sports). I tweet and re-tweet about the same topics. You can follow me @srsusan.
New to Twitter or Have Questions, Click Here
Do you use any social media platforms for news? Tell us about it.