What is Twitter, Really?

What is Twitter? Sure, it is a "social network," but lots of people also say blogs are social networks. Initially, the idea was that Twitter was Facebook in 140 characters. These days, most observers would tend to agree that Twitter is something different, which only raises the question of "what" Twitter actually is.

These days, some would say, Twitter might be seen less as a social network on the Facebook model, but something that is as much broadcast network as a "social network." Of course, these days all social networks seem to be "media" as well as the digital equivalent of any real world place where people casually hang out and talk.

These days, the term "information network" seems to be the accepted term. Dick Costolo, Twitter CEO, says “there’s this huge opportunity for us to surface all this great content.” The difference might be subtle, but it's a bit like the difference between "what you doing right now?" and "what's happening right now?"

The former is an example of personal communication. The latter is "media."

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