Definitions: Twitter

Definition

Twitter is a service that allows users to post micro-blogs, known as “tweets,” which can be read by other users who “follow” by subscribing to a user’s profile. Each tweet is actually a text-based post up to 140 characters long. Twitter users send and receive tweets in several ways: via SMS, from the Twitter website, or via instant message. The Twitter service was first introduced in 2006 and is free to use.

Business applications

Twitter is mainly a social networking site, meaning it was created to bring together people who share like activities and interests. However, various organizations have used the technology for other purposes.

The Los Angeles Fire Department used Twitter to communicate during the 2007 California wildfires. NASA has used Twitter to provide updates during Space Shuttle missions. President Barack Obama used Twitter during his  2008 presidential campaign. Israel was the first government to use Twitter to take questions during a worldwide press conference concerning the war against Hamas in Gaza.

Considering these various uses of the technology, there could be other ways to harness the micro-blogging service for use in the business world.

Concerns

With so many ways to keep in contact with friends, Twitter users often feel “too connected” since users can send and receive messages at all hours of the day, and some users feel the need to post about every activity from breakfast through bedtime rituals. Also, if users tweet via SMS messages,  there are cell phone charges to consider. But most users find the most  challenge in attempting to publish their thoughts within the limited text  constraints.

There are also issues with scammers who are targeting Twitter users with phishing scams. A scammer might send out a tweet with a link to a page that looks like the Twitter page, but is actually a fake page to try to steal the user’s login and password.

Technical details

Twitter uses the Ruby on Rails open-source web application framework. The messages are handled with a persistent queue server written with the Scala programming language.