What is Twitter? Simply explained

Twitter is one of the most popular social networks, yet every now and then the question arises as to what it actually is.

What Twitter is: This is what is hidden behind the name

Twitter (English: “twitter”) is both a blogging service and a social network.

• Twitter was founded in March 2006.

• Registered users have the option of sending short messages with a maximum of 140 characters via the network. These are called “tweets”.

• The regular name was initially “twttr”.

• Twitter founder Jack Dorsey also put out the first tweet at the same time, tweeting, “just setting up my twttr. “

• Twitter has been mobile since 2010, since then there have been apps for Android and iOS. Since 2013, Twitter has also been represented on the stock exchange.

• A unique selling point is still that tweets are limited to 140 characters, even if this rule has since been softened so that photos, videos or quoted tweets no longer fall under the 140-character limit.

• The creation of lists is also practical. In this way, only the tweets of the accounts that you add to the list are displayed in a list. This is particularly recommended in view of the fact that Twitter is often used as a news source.

Twitter: Criticism of the network

Nonetheless, criticism of Twitter continues to ignite in various forms.

• This concerns, on the one hand, the supposedly partly restricted freedom of expression.
• Since 2012, Twitter has been filtering certain content that violates the law in individual countries. This mainly concerns right-wing extremism, hate messages or the glorification of violence.
• Elon Musk sees this regulation as a serious interference with freedom of expression on the platform.
• This approach is also noticeable in the sometimes very harsh treatment on Twitter. In the supposed anonymity, many users seem to be of the opinion that they can express their opinions completely uninhibited.
• Thus, also due to the fact that Twitter is used by numerous journalists, politicians and public figures, a thoroughly questionable stream of opinion is created within which everyone has an opinion on everything and which no longer knows any differentiation.
• This creates a difficult balancing act for Twitter between guaranteeing free, digital exchange on the one hand and the exploitation of this possibility by a few incorrigibles on the other.