Why is Twitter the best source of news?

Twitter: 330 million active users and over 40 languages supported. Their leading message when you visit their website is – ‘What’s happening in the world and what people are talking about right now.’ And it couldn’t be more true – in 2017 it was reported that 74% of Twitter users say they use the network to find news, and that figure is growing by the day.
But why is everyone resorting to potentially ‘fake news’ to find out what’s happening in the world?

Short and sweet

In today’s modern world everyone is ‘time poor’, a constant deluge of emails, texts and increasing workloads means that people have the attention span of a goldfish. Posts are limited to 280 characters and allow pictures and videos, this makes it quick and easy to consume – and participate in. Consumers don’t have time to read long articles, or at least not every story in the newspaper. By limiting Tweets to a couple of sentences means that people think carefully about what they are posting and are straight to the point – less is more!

Real time posting

Anyone, anywhere can Tweet in seconds and have their thoughts, views and information public in an instant. For the first time anyone with access to the internet can post commentary and media whilst an incident is occurring and we don’t have to wait for TV crews to produce a news show which is only aired at pre-determined times.

Easy search

There are more than two billion search queries every day on Twitter. People can find information on any topic and segment by; latest, popular and hashtags. Hashtags allow for a quick creation of impromptu communities and discussions around a topic. Once you enter the search term then Twitter brings all the Tweets and highlights your search term in bold – so you can easily determine what is relevant without having to read through all of the information.

Volume brings validity

When making important decisions being able to view the opinions of communities is essential, you don’t have to speculate. Base your views on a critical mass of active users and first-hand sources which can break the news without being blocked by publishers. If there a large volume of people discussing a topic then the chances are (in most cases) then there is some truth and validity in the story.

Give me the information and I will make my mind up

Every news channel you watch or newspaper you read their articles will invariably have a political angle or focus on who they believe their target audience is. The news is filtered, and the story is told from the view of often one person. This can be misleading and especially if you are using this information to base decisions on, then you want to hear all sides, see a spectrum of opinions and reports to make your own mind up. Some aspects which might not have made the five-minute news slot may actually be crucial for your own purposes.

Two-way street

Twitter is open and everyone has access. Everyone can respond to Tweets (if they are not blocked) and view other people responses. It is interactive and allows everyone to ask questions and converse on topics.

Conclusion

Twitter has been successful at carving out a niche for dominating global common knowledge distribution. Other social media channels have not been as successful due to their competing interests. Facebook puts friends and family first. Snapchat is private and direct by default – doesn’t allow people to retweet. Instagram – lends its self to lifestyle and creative due to being image based. This set of constraints puts Twitter in a uniquely good position to break new content.