Wednesday 8 September 2010

Twitter (homework)

Twitter is a "micro-blog" designed for small posts and comments. This is because it was originally designed to be added to via mobiles. This can be useful as people have to be concise about what they type without going off-topic or starting to waffle, so it is easier to read. However it can be problematic if someone is trying to explain something in depth and do not have the available characters.

The main page of twitter shows "Top Tweets" which are "tweets" or posts that people think are important. It cycles through the top tweets from approximately 3 hours ago to when the page was loaded. This is useful because it lets people see the important posts quickly without even logging in.
There is also a reel at the top ofthe page which shows popular recent searches. This is useful because pepole can use those links to quickly be taken to popular topics or discussions.
Twitter shows all posts to everybody. This means that anyone on twitter can see what every-one else has just posted. This is good if a lot of people need to be told or if the person thinks the general public should know. However if a person makes a derrogitary statement everyone will see it. Even if they regret making the statement later a  lot of people will already have seen it. This can cause problems for celebrities and companies. It is likely that the company will fire an employee for making a derrogatory statement about it.

A scottish MP, Patrick Harvie, complained on his twitter account about how slow he finds Windows 7, the new operating system from Microsoft. During his complaint he used expletive. He has been criticised as he is in the public view.
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11220656)

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