Twitter? No Thank You.

As I’m sure you would have picked up on by now, I have some rather passionate viewpoints and opinions when it comes to all things social media/ technology related. Don’t even get me started on Twitter!

Once again, I’ll start off this post by telling you I don’t use Twitter. I never have, and I don’t intend to. Reason being, I just don’t quite have the interest to join. According to the How to Twitter infographic on Edudemic, Twitter was created to answer the question “what are you doing?” And it seems that the majority of people who decided to respond were celebrities. To be honest, I’m not sure if I really care!

My friends have told me the reason they use Twitter is to gain access to what The Conversation.com describes as ‘real time information, reaction and public opinion during breaking news stories’. Now, I’m all for a good news update. I love being in the know, and I find it extremely valuable to maintain a top line understanding of news and current affairs across the world. And yes, as your stereotypical member of Gen-Y, I’ll always opt for the simple version too. I like all news in brief, up to the minute updates. Theoretically, I should LOVE Twitter!

So, why don’t I?

Well, my main problem with Twitter is the fact that it’s become completely overrun by celebrities. It baffles me that celebrities such as Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry make up the top 3, 2 and 1 most followed respectively. Particularly when CNN Breaking News doesn’t even crack the top 35! I agree with my friends that Twitter can be a great platform for the ever transforming newsroom, which is why I find it disappointing that such an advantageous form of communication is predominantly being used to spread celebrity gossip and endorsements. 

So long as Twitter remains as a forum for celebrities to air their dirty laundry, and share embarrassing and inane personal quips, I’ll be getting my up-to-date news fix from TheAge.com.au!