Twitter. It's Not So Bad After All

A month ago if someone brought up Twitter, I would have said, “I don’t get it. I mean, really, isn’t it just a bunch of Facebook statuses? What’s the appeal?” But now, I’ve had a change of heart and I’ll tell you why.

Photo from flickr.com by Andreas Eldh

Career Advice: I am a public relations major and as such I decided I should probably be up-to-date with all the ways in which I could, well, relate with the public. So with a sigh I created an account and became part of the tweeting flock. Next thing I knew, I was surfing through all kinds of tweets from other PR practitioners, websites, or journals and each one was chalk full of ideas and information. PR isn’t the only field with such a gold mine either. There are Twitter accounts for everything from archaeology to chemical engineering that can help you be top-of-the-line in whatever it is you want to do.

News Source: Occasionally I get so wrapped up in my university bubble that I forget there is a whole world out there that doesn’t include midterms or monotonous textbooks. It’s times like these that I just need to stop whatever I’m working on (such a shame), and bridge the gap with the rest of the world. There are tons of great news sources out there, but when I’m sort on time, just reading a few tweets from news sources really gets the job done. Not to mention it saves you from looking clueless when the person sitting next to you starts chatting about Syrian uprisings or the presidential race.

Entertainment: What would our generation be without entertainment? It practically thrives on the stuff, so naturally, Twitter has a grand entertainment factor as well. From professional comedians to average Joe college students, it’s pretty amazing what people can come up with using only 140 characters.

So there you have it. Rather than hoping Twitter will migrate south for the winter and never come back, give it a try. Whether it’s career advice, news, or entertainment, see what you can find that best suits you.