News Breaking on Twitter First

Before the era of social media, media houses reported breaking news on their TV screens and radio stations. According to Lynch (57), journalists covering breaking news were required to the scene and do a live report on what was happening as quickly as possible. However, digital technology has transformed everything and given consumers a more convenient way to access breaking news. The introduction of smartphones and availability of internet has rapidly increased the number of people who access social media platforms. According to Barthel, Shearer, and Gottfried, a study by Pew Research in collaboration with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, indicates that a majority of Twitter and Facebook users rely on these platforms for news about events and issues beyond the dominion of family and friends (par. 2). Figures indicate that about 63 percent of Twitter users and Facebook users rely on these platforms to get news items (par. 3). Nonetheless, although the two social networks have almost the same number of users relying on them for news, there are significant differences in their distribution strength. More specifically, compared to Facebook, the number of users who rely and follow breaking news on Twitter is considerably high. 

Twitter is a social media site, where until recently users used short texts limited up to 140 characters before changing to 280 characters. Currently, according to StatistaTwitter has more than 330 million active users posting millions of tweets every day (n.p). Despite being a social media network, the site has transformed to become one of the most popular newswires supplanting major media sources such as Bloomberg for breaking news. More than ever now, the Twitter effect is now common going by the number of major breaking news that has been covered first on the site before anywhere else. Ultimately, this raises the obvious question, how did Twitter become the 21^st-century breaking news source?

Causes of the Breaking News Trend on Twitter

In recent years, Twitter has conveniently transformed into an information network, which is a major separation from other social networks such as Facebook. As compared to the 21^st-century newspaper, Twitter allows people to learn the news from the first-person point of view. Virtually, in mainstream media, breaking news causes a desperate rush to get information, while first verifying it to ensure its accuracy and credibility before airing it. However, the large mass of active users can conveniently deliver news without being blocked by publishers and are willing to take a risk and gamble with the accuracy of the information (Quora par. 3). Besides the ability to report news as they happen, Twitter also allows users to do with less friction. More particularly, all that is needed is taking a photo, writing some catchy text in less than 280 characters, and tweeting (par. 4). The other cause that has seen Twitter become the 21^st-century newspaper is the re-tweet feature that allows efficient redistribution of information (par. 5). Ideally, the retweet feature allows users to redistribute a story easily and in a short while reaching thousands of users within a short duration. The feature also doubly allows low friction endorsement from low distribution outlets by high distribution outlets. 

Initially, Twitter allowed users up to 140 characters text, before increasing it to 280 characters. Virtually, the number of characters allowed in Twitter allows users to tweet small size stories, which makes it easy for people to skim through several tweets and fast (Quora par. 7). Along with that, Twitter’s feed is time organized, which makes it easy to get the latest news fast especially if consumers are refreshing fast (par. 6). The trending feature in Twitter allows users to view the most trending news, which makes it easy to see the most popular news item in case they missed it. Similarly, users can easily filter a topic and view only the trending news item about an issue or event. Hashtags also allow for the creation of impromptu news items and discussions around a topic. It thus becomes easy to access the most trending news item and to get various editions of the story from the trending hashtag. Another feature that has made Twitter a popular site for breaking news is the ability to post two stories in one tweet. This means it is possible to do a breaking news post and later update followers with a full report without having to come up with different threads.  

Unfortunately, for Twitter despite the popularity of breaking news and keeping consumers updated on what is happening, the social media has one shortcoming. The problem with such quick breaking news is that sometimes there is no guarantee that everything is accurate and credible. Besides, it becomes challenging to control the spread of such news once they hit the social media platform because of the way it becomes easy to share the news among millions of users in a short period. Nonetheless, no other platform that offers quick breaking news as Twitter does, which leaves users with no option.

Essentially, Twitter has greatly transformed the way breaking news is reported. More particularly, the social media platform has transformed into a news newswire platform as compared to other social networks such as Facebook. The trend about breaking news happening first in Twitter has been largely contributed by several factors such as the large number of active users who can release news without being restricted by publishers. Other factors that have contributed to the trend is the retweet feature, the 280 character feature that allows posting of short stories, the trending feature, and the hashtag.

Works Cited

Barthel, M., Shearer, E., Gottfried, J., and Mitchell, A. “The Evolving Role of News on Twitter and Facebook.” Pew Research Center: Journalism & Media, 14 Jul. 2015, http://www.journalism.org/2015/07/14/the-evolving-role-of-news-on-twitter-and-facebook/. Accessed 9 February 2018. 

Lynch, Lorri. Exploring Journalism and the Media. South-Western Cengage Learning, 2013.

Quora. Why Twitter Is Still The Best Place For Breaking News Despite Its Many Challenges. Forbes Magazine, 20 Jan. 2015, https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2017/01/10/why-twitter-is-still-the-best-place-for-breaking-news-despite-its-many-challenges/#2cd7ac026ab0. Accessed 9 February 2018.Statista. Number of monthly active Twitter users worldwide from 1st quarter 2010 to 3rd quarter 2017 (in millions), https://www.statista.com/statistics/282087/number-of-monthly-active-twitter-users/. Accessed 9 February 2018.