About a year and a half ago, I had to make a Twitter account for my internship. Before, I didn’t want one, even though a bunch of my friends were raving about it. So I reluctantly made one, and I have to say I am happy I did.
You’ve heard it before, but it’s true. Social media is changing everything—the way we communicate information, the way we do business, they way we date, the way have friendships, EVERYTHING. Twitter is the next step after Facebook that really connects you to this media world.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a serial tweeter, whatsoever. I want to put that out there because some people are a bit over the top tweeting every single thing that pops in the brain, which I frankly think is a waste of time and somewhat delusional if they think the rest of the world cares. That being said, I am more of a “follower,” if you will, in the world of Twitter. I like to read what celebrities and organizations and information is being tweeted, rather than tweeting myself. But to each her own.
I technically got a Twitter because of work, but these are the reasons I finally caved and gave into the whole thing:
1. THE CELEBS
You laugh, but it’s seriously awesome. A ton of famous people are getting into Twitter as much as we are. Depending on the celebrity, they will tweet pictures and say things and share information that you would never expect to know. There also are celebrities that are disappointing—this is how I weed out the good from the bad. For those of you who don’t know, the blue check mark, aka “being verified,” means the celeb is legitimate, meaning it is actually them tweeting from their actual iPhone or computer. Anyway, you start following someone for say a week, and if they aren’t funny or say anything of insight, then I stop following them. But everyone will be different. For example, my number one Hollywood crush since the third grade is Leonardo DiCaprio. He has a verified account, but his tweets are always formal, and clearly from his PR department and not his personal thoughts. Now, I keep following him because I will support anything he does, but if that were anyone else? DROP. Take the Jersey Shore cast—hilarious, as usual. They have conversations with themselves back and forth, its great. But the Situation and J-Woww tweet way too much and about nothing interesting, so I unfollowed them.
The other good/bad thing about following celebs is you can fall in love with someone that you didn’t like, or realize someone you adore is a real D-bag. I truly loathed Ryan Seacrest during my pre-Twitter days. It’s hard to remember why now, but I did. For some reason or another, because he is well connected to the entertainment industry, I started following him. Needless to say, it’s been love at first tweet. It’s not a throw-my-bra-on-stage kind of love, but on a professional level, a level of respect. He is the man. Seriously. He truly is the hardest working man in Hollywood, I don’t care what anyone says. But there’s an example of where your view can change, and it has happened to me in the negative too. I don’t want to influence anyone; you shall find out on your own. You also get an amazing glance into what serious drunks celebrities are and how they have equally serious hangovers.
2. THE COMEDY
Twitter can be hilarious, if you follow the right people. I follow way too many television writers, who are naturally funny. You know what you like, and your “following” list will reflect that. The best stuff comes during events—sports games, award shows, or whatever else is going on, people comment on it. That’s the best part about it: Twitter is timely.
3. THE INFORMATION
If you follow the right people, the information you can get on Twitter is ridiculous. I am an avid reader of the entertainment periodicals and now I rarely even go to the actual websites. I follow The Hollywood Reporter on Twitter and they tweet all their new stories and relevant information. It’s the same situation with sporting events. If you are out to dinner or whatever, some handles will give you play-by-play updates on the game. There’s of course regular news too, like CNN, NY Times, etc. Whatever you would turn on TV or surf on the web, you can most likely follow them on Twitter. Then there are also bloggers, who Tweet their daily/weekly posts. Athletes will make announcements that way. Really, the possibilities are endless.
Twitter is great for local information or BU news. There are a ton of people you can follow from BU, like Dean Elmore, the GSU, and your individual schools, that all tweet about different events and information during the day to keep you informed. For stuff going on around Boston, I follow Boston Tweet (@BostonTweet). This guy’s job is to pretty much report about anything going on in the Boston area (and burritos, he loves burritos). He tweets about food specials, concerts, ticket sales, and even when the T may be down.
4. FRIENDS
This is yet another way to stay connected with your friends. They might say where they are, what they are doing for the day, or they might post pictures. It’s a conversation piece. It’s fun and you get to call your friends out on it for all the world of Twitter to see.
5. CAREER
Many jobs now like to see that you have a Twitter account. I write sports stories for one of my internships and we quote athletes’ Twitter accounts often in real journalistic stories. Companies like to be up to date with current phenomena and social media. To that, I say having a Twitter is a must.
Things to know about Twitter:
- “RT”—Means retweet. If you want to comment on someone else’s tweet and you want your followers to see what they said, you would put their tweet first, then type “RT”, then whatever you wanted to say. Here’s an example of something I retweeted recently: @theresamarieee you and the rest of the country. they are apparently crying in the locker room RT @adamlevine: I love watching the Heat lose…so satisfying.
- Verified—The blue check mark, meaning the person you are following has been approved by the mighty Twitter people so their users know they are real.
- When you “reply” to people, only users who follow you both will see your tweet, not all of your followers.
- You only get 140 characters in a tweet. There is something called “tweet longer” where you can link a page to your longer tweet. Tip: no one will read it if you do that. Keep it short and sweet.
- “Trends” are what is the most popular in phrase or word in the Twitter world at the moment. During the Oscars, “oscars” was trending. They now have a promoted section, where certain products or movies are bought to have their name trending on Twitter.
- “#” (or hash tags) are often used to highlight a word becoming part of a trend. Example, #oscars. Many people also use it at the end of tweets for a sarcastic tone. Here’s something I tweeted the other day: It’s officially less than 2 months left in college. It’s march 23, we graduate may 22. Life as we know it is over. #gettingoldsucks
- Pictures are incriminating and what you say is on the internet is there for all to see. Be aware that Twitter comes up in Google. Many, many, many famous people have regretted tweets they have done and had to publically apologize.
- Here is my own personal suggestion: don’t tweet about your every whereabouts when random people are following you. This is a scary world and Twitter could easily become a stalker’s playground. #justsaying
Some goodies to follow (not including any news/information):
1. Charlie Sheen – @charliesheen – just started following him. He’s so outrageous and keeps you in touch with the new crazy of the week.
2. BU Girl Problems – @BUgirlproblems – for all BU students, this lady tweets jokes only we would understand.
3. Adam Levine – @adamlevine – the lead man from Maroon 5. I’m not even a huge fan of the band, but he’s awesome. And hot.
4. Donald Glover – @DonaldGlover – actor and comedian, best known as Troy on the comedy “Community.” I laugh out loud at his tweets daily.
5. Damon Lindelof – @DamonLindelof – co-creator of “Lost.” Anyone who loves television, follow him. You’ll see why.
6. Seth Meyers – @sethmeyers21 – from “Saturday Night Live.” Adore him.
7. Seacrest – @RyanSeacrest – no explanation needed.
8. Jimmy Fallon – @jimmyfallon – he’s so funny and makes you feel like he’s one of us.
9. Nathan Fillion – @NathanFillion – actor, currently starring in “Castle.” Just so enjoyable, you want to be his best friend.
10. Her Campus BU – @HerCampusBU – of course!
And there are a bunch I left off! It is clear where my interests lie. There are so many people on Twitter that I don’t follow/don’t even know exsist. As you weave your way through this Twitter universe you will find your favorites. And you can always follow me JTheresa Amrhein, @theresamarieee #ineedmorefollowersontwitter
HAVE FUN and don’t become addicted.