There is definitely a line that needs to be drawn between work (or school) and your social life. In a sense, the prominence of social media results in the gradual decay of an individual’s privacy, but I believe that social media, and especially Twitter, has created an alternate universe where you can have serious conversations with public figures while also scrolling through your favorite meme page, and that’s pretty awesome. Twitter has become necessary for certain professions, from politicians to journalists to athletes, and it should be praised for its ability to bring people from all over the world together as one. For your future career and your current wellbeing, it is important that you make a Twitter, and there are a few people that you should follow to start building your feed.
1. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
This is a no-brainer; Trump may single-handedly be the reason that Twitter is so hot right now. Since President Obama, the President of the United States has always usually had a presence on Twitter, but Trump has redefined the president’s role on social media. His tweets are impulsive, so almost everyone single one can be interpreted as breaking news. He definitely keeps you on your toes. Realistically, his tweets are going to be on the 5 o’clock news anyway, so you may as well see it yourself first.
2. Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton)
Simply to keep yourself impartial, you should also try to follow a prominent Democrat as well. Hillary Clinton is a good option because she tends to directly comment on Trump’s actions. There are plenty of vocal Democrats out there, so you have options, but who doesn’t want to support the woman who was almost the first female President of the United States?
3. Christine Teigen (@chrissyteigen)
On a much less serious note, Chrissy Teigen is seriously Twitter royalty. Her tweets about John Legend, her hilarious snap backs at some of her followers and her occasional #foodporn leads to a perfectly crafted Twitter account. She is already pretty set in her career, so you may not want to exactly mimic her sass if using Twitter for certain professional opportunities, but it is totally and completely acceptable to watch from a distance and laugh.
Gif Courtesy of Giphy
4. NowThis (@nowthisnews)
Vine is dead, but the art of the short(ish) video is certainly not. NowThis tweets multiple videos out every day about a wide variety of news stories, and they are the perfect way to get a bit more detail in your feed without having to read in-depth stories. Some of their stories are politically driven, others are fairly obscure, but all of them are worth the watch.
5. Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome)
Stephen Colbert is a Northwestern graduate, so I tend to fangirl over him more than the average viewer, but I do truly think that he is one of the best late show hosts out there. His Twitter is a mix of snippets from some of his shows, funny tweets about the state of our country and even a few pictures from his life. Whenever Stephen Colbert pops up on my feed, I know that I am going to get a little chuckle out of it.
There is absolutely no way to condense all that Twitter’s users have to offer to the world into just five accounts, but these are definitely a good place to start. Instagram will still be there to post your best selfies, Facebook will still be there to stay connected with your old high school friends, but neither of them are as relevant as Twitter is right now. Twitter is more important now than ever, and it is time to hop on the bandwagon.