Reflections: Twitter and Blogger

This is my first time using Twitter, although it has been introduced long time ago. Before that, I thought Twitter was some kind of e-journal, whereby users and readers can share opinions and chat. But after today lesson, I realized that Twitter is a quite useful tools no matter at school, work or at home. You can just tweet about anything that you feel like to.

Twitter logo

According to TheFreeDictionary.com, Twitter means:

1. To utter a succession of light chirping or tremulous sounds; chirrup

2.a. To speak rapidly and in a tremulous manner: twittering over office gossip.

   b. To giggle nervously; titter.

3. To tremble with nervous agitation or excitement.

During EIR, Twitter has helped to bring close the relationship between classmates and lecturers. This is because through tweeting, students can discuss about school work and meanwhile chit chat among each others. Besides that, Twitter also used as a communication tools between students and lecturers, especially during off day and after school. For instance, students can ask questions and consult lecturers regarding school works through Twitter. Other than that, following celebrities and artists allows users to keep up-to-date with them, from fashion to their daily lives activity.

Below is a quick comparison between Twitter and Blogger:

Internet Facilities	Twitter	Blogger
Input Options	Text only	Text, images, videos, links
Information shared	Limited, only viewable by followers only	Unlimited, viewable by every one
Text limit	140 words only per tweet	No limit
Tweet /Post options	Instant short tweet, similar to SMS	Detailed post with advanced post options
Notification	All followers will be notified the next second	Only site feeders will be notified
Template Editor	Quick template editor under Profile page	Quick template editor under Design bar
Interface	Simple and fixed layout	Customisable layout with gadgets
Privacy	Only Followers able to view the tweets	All readers able to view the post

I think Blogger will be more useful tools when come to research. This is because through Blogger, users can share their findings and link photos and videos, whereby in Twitter, user can only post text. Besides that, in Twitter, text limit on type box was another disadvantage, as compared to Blogger. Users cannot include whole excerpt from websites through Twitter.

On the other hands, Twitter has a good point which is better than Blogger, the Following and Unfollow features. For instance, after Tom follow Harry’s page on Twitter, whatever tweets from Harry will be display on Tom’s Twitter homepage in the next few minutes. Therefore, the Followers still be updated with the latest tweets from whom their Following.

As a conclusion, I think Blogger can be used as a research tools, with proper language used and reliable resources. This is because some of the blog are purely made of personal justification or statements, therefore, if one include information form external websites, then that piece of information would be useful as we can know and link to the original websites. As for Twitter, I think it would be more suitable if used as a discussion board for class activity and gather feedbacks from students and lecturers. The instant tweet short messages will be passed around and everyone will be notified on the spot.