The Cliff Notes to my Up to the Hour News

I’m not going to lie; I was not the first to jump on the Twitter bandwagon.  I didn’t join as soon as it came out, I kind of got annoyed at the chirping sounds I’d hear from co-workers phones and I didn’t see it as a site of substance or one that I’d spend time on consuming quality content. However, since I downloaded the Twitter iPhone App things have changed. While I don’t consider myself to be an influential or highly active “Tweeter”, the Twitter App is now one of my most frequently used apps. Below are the reasons why I love it.

1.   Timeliness  - All right so maybe it’s not right now, maybe it happened 10 seconds ago, but, if something is newsworthy, you can bet it will be on Twitter as it’s happening.  This feature can be great in several types of events from major storms to election day and sporting events. For example, if you are signed up for an outdoor event and it’s pouring rain, you can get news of any change as soon as it’s available. Also, if you don’t have an entire afternoon to watch a sporting event or race you are at least somewhat interested in, you can simply check in every hours to see the major plays or progress.

2.   Brevity – Don’t get me wrong; there are many great articles that are over 500 words that are worth reading. However, they aren’t all worth reading for every individual and, even if they are, one doesn’t always have the time to read them in depth while they are on the go even though they might want to know what’s going on. Between WSJ, CNN, Ad Age, Tech Crunch, Triathlete Magazine, School, my friends and all the new blogs I’m reading . . . well, I could spend all day reading.  While I love a good story as much as the next person, sometimes I don’t have time for storytelling and I simply want to know about an outcome or major event.  By limiting the amount that can be written to 140 characters, people are forced to get to the point. After you know the main point you can decide for yourself if you want to read more and use the Twitter App to bookmark articles for a more convenient time.

3.   Filterability – With the rise in social media, blogs and alternative news sources, there is so much information out there these days. I don’t know who has the ability to keep up with it all.  No one has the time to read every section of every newspaper or sort through all the magazine sites they have bookmarked. As well as limiting the characters in a Tweet, Twitter allows users to opt-in to the subjects and accounts of interested to them so they can prioritize the information they get on the go to the sources and subjects that matter most. Personally, I can usually tell if a topic is important because it will show up in tweets from multiple accounts I follow.  Also, when someone thinks it’s ok for them to tweet the same thing every 30 minutes, you can easily filter him or her out.

To sum things up, I love my Twitter App because it allows me to stay up to hour on the most important points from the publications and people of importance to me while I’m on the go.