Twitter: Decentralizing News or Fiction?

It’s been only two decades since online social media really came into our lives. But who knew that as these platforms would become bigger and turn mainstream, they would revolutionize how communicate with each other! Today, these platforms are not only used by an average person, but have also found use by businesses, governments, politicians, celebrities, athletes, artists etc. For some people, even their livelihood depends on these platforms. One example of such is Twitter.

Twitter, started by Jack Dorsey as ‘Twttr’ in 2006, was a decentralized ‘SMS’ platform without any clear business model. Over the years though, we have seen Twitter evolve into something much more as multiple features such as retweet, hashtag, feed, message, follow, pinned tweet, verified profiles, lists, short URLs, video etc. were developed for users. It is widely thought that Twitter is a micro-blogging, social media, or advertising platform, but we should hold onto that judgement for now. Although, the answer to ‘What Twitter is?’ is a complicated one, but one thing we know for sure, it’s much more powerful than ever and has unlimited potential. Twitter maybe the fastest global communication platform in the world which has unbundled news and information sharing to an unprecedented level.

Today, any globally important news finds its way first on twitter and other platforms before it does on newspapers and news channels. With instantaneous tweets, information reaches people faster than it ever did, informing them of important events happening around the world. For example, in 2008, when a Boeing 737 crashed in Denver, Mike Wilson tweeted from inside the burning wreckage and informed the world. On January 15^th 2009, when Captain Chelsea “Sully” Sullenberger safely landed the Flight 1549 on the Hudson river, Janis Krums, with about 170 followers, was one of the first to tweet a picture about the crash making the event a worldwide sensation. During the Mumbai attacks in 2008, Twitter played an instrumental role as people immediately shared eyewitness accounts warning everyone on locations of armed shooters and bombs. These events were the first signs, providing evidence to the claim that Twitter is much more than just a social media platform.

Twitter not just disrupted the media and journalism industry but also provided credibility to the news that consumers read, as the news came directly from the horse’s mouth. While Twitter allows everyone to voice their thoughts to the world, we observe routinely that tweets often backfire and become the front-page news or the next viral thing or the newest topic of controversy. Incidents where a single tweet, by a CEO or a high-profile personality or the president of a country, has caused irreparable damage, unprecedented turmoil, and eroded or created economic/shareholder value in minutes, are not uncommon anymore. This is the true power of news and its being unleashed 140 characters at a time. ‘Financial markets’ is a perfect example of an industry affected by news, and in the age of Twitter, news really travels at the speed of light making Goliaths fall or Davids rise at the push of a tweet!

The story from the user’s perspective is also very astonishing as people have identified unique applications which even Twitter did not realize. There are literally 100s if not 1000s of success stories of businesses, people and causes, finding endorsements, funding, jobs, talent, resources, publicity etc., through Twitter just because an influencer/celebrity retweeted or noticed them. Now every user has the power to see, follow or talk to anyone on the ecosystem. Numerous times, Twitter was the knight in shining armor for people in emergencies, providing someone means to a lost passport, or a medical visa, or a crowdfunding campaign, helping bypass multiple levels of red tape and bureaucracy. This was not possible in a world without Twitter. However, Twitter’s true potential is yet unknown as new applications of its data are still being examined such as controlling flu-outbreaks or predicting earthquakes etc. But as it is popularly believed, where there is light there is also darkness!

The debate on the character limit imposed by Twitter has been ongoing since Twitter’s inception. Sometimes consolidating tweets is tricky without distorting the meaning of words, causing provocation or confusion amongst readers. Another issue arises when users curate the information to receive or select whom to follow, as unknowingly, they also curate the inherent biases, and are at risk of falling into an echo chamber with tunnel vision surrounded by disinformation. The risk towards the younger generation is even higher as they don’t fully understand the dangers of social media yet. Therefore, it makes sense that we be careful about what we write online and read everything with a grain of salt, but that’s easier said than done.

Not all grass is greener on this side, for as many success stories that exist, hundreds of stories about cyberbullying, hate speech, trolling, disinformation, fake-profiles, crazy bots, or twitter mobs etc., also exist. Twitter is a double-edged sword which can be used for good and evil. Institutions and organization have often manipulated information to suit their purposes and promote false propaganda and perception, creating fear and hatred. It wasn’t long ago that the Cambridge Analytica incident revealed how elections were manipulated and evolved the discussions worldwide on issues such as privacy, data-protection etc. In 2018, a report published by Oxford University found 48 politically organized social-media manipulation campaigns in different countries. The sad truth is, this is only the tip of the iceberg as far as the dark side of Social Media is considered.

Evidence suggests that government sponsored troll farms create fake accounts and news to change public perception on issues to suppress people from uprising against injustices. The Myanmar military used social media to shape false narratives to mask and justify the violence against the Rohingya Muslims. The Saudi government has gone to the extent that it manages the image of the nation through social media. They systematically build narratives to spread modified versions of reality and shift attention, by attacking and harassing critics, from the atrocities that are happening. Jamal Khashoggi lost his life proving that.

With money it’s possible for anyone to hire people/bots, work them in coordination, and mount an attack to even topple governments. Turning fiction into fact or visa-versa has become much easier. This power has been decentralized from news and media organizations. While Twitter may be one of the leaders in taking preventative steps against these issues, the jury’s still out on how successful it would be.

As the rules of the game evolve, so would the players and their techniques!