Benjamin ValdezMIS 304Professor Fang FangCal State University San Marcos

Background • Founded by Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone

and Evan Williams in March 2006• Launched publicly in July 2006• A social networking and micro-

blogging service• Allows users to post latest updates• Update is limited by 140 characters

and three forms: web form, text message or instant message

Background (Cont.)Features have been added such as

Gmail import and searchExplore (internal and third party tools

for interaction)Twitter Blocks (visualization tools)

How Does It Work?Create an account for free at

www.twitter.comComplete a profileUpload a pictureLink account with a web page, cell

phone, or instant messenger programSend “tweets”Tweets are sent to others specified in

the account

Pros and ConsPros

Free serviceGreat for marketingGreat for sharing articles/linksGreat for social networkingPromotes website traffic to specific

websitesConnecting with others and staying in

touch

Pros and Cons cont.

ConsUnwanted spammingLacks specific interest groups, i.e.

FacebookPosts are limited to 140 charactersTime-consumingCan become dangerous (i.e. Letting

everyone know about where you are located can promote stalking)

Phishing/Scamming (Be sure to change your password)

Has Twitter Peaked?Went from about 2.6 million visitors

at the beginning of January 2009 to 17 million by the end of April

Less than 51 percent of Twitter users were from the United States in December, compared to more than 61 percent in June.

About 21.2 million visitors in July 2009 to 19.9 million in December

Referenceshttp://www.crunchbase.com/company/

twitterhttp://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/26/

has.twitter.peaked/index.html#cnnSTCText

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/02/02/twitter.phishing/index.html

http://trevinwax.com/2009/08/04/weighing-the-pros-and-cons-of-twitter/