Janice West discusses how Twitter has evolved from its original intended use. Originally conceived as a side project for status updates from companies, Twitter is now used to share personal moments, spread news and information in real-time, and for businesses to communicate with customers. Users have shaped Twitter by inventing ways to directly reply to others and through third-party applications. Twitter has expanded far beyond its initial purpose and now plays a role in real-time information sharing during events like wildfires or crises like gas shortages.

1. Janice West
Chapter 5 Think Assignment
1. Twitter was intended to be used for updates for companies. Twitter was originally a side
project. People use Twitter to send messages such as announcing a child’s birth, or even
when they might accidently drop their phone into the toilet to express their feeling about
the accident. They share these moments as they happen. What they didn’t anticipate was,
up to 60 thousand people at a time see each twit at it is sent into the airways. They didn’t
anticipate all of the different uses that people are using the twit for, such as, news updates
during the wildfires in California, and real time events all around the world. People was
using Twitter to keep up with how far to fires had spread near their homes. The LA
Times, Los Angeles Fire Department also updated on twitter to keep everyone abreast of
any changes during the fires.
2. Businesses use Twitter for marketing strategies, and communicating with each other
through the company. People even twitter where the most popular food truck is located so
they can avoid the long lines to get their lunch. The President also uses Twitter. The
popularity was never expected to expand to these extremes.
3. Twitter was originally designed as a broadcast mechanize. Send one message, and it goes
out to everybody and you receive the messages you are interested in and replying back to
the sender. One of the many ways that users shaped the evolution of Twitter was, gy
inventing a way to reply to a specific person, or specific message. The other way is via-
API we built an application which means programmers can write software that interacts
with Twitter. There are over 2000 pieces of software that can send Twitter updates. There
is even a device that lets a mother know when her unborn baby kicks. People would
twitter back and forth to each other during the gas crises and let everyone know where the
cheapest gas prices were located to help everyone save money. The instant feedback is
the most popular thing among the changes of twitter from its original intended use.