From news consumption to #BlackLivesMatter: 5 ways Twitter changed our lives

By Team Newsable | First Published Mar 21, 2023, 1:30 AM IST

17 years ago today, the co-founder and former CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey sent a message which kickstarted Twitter and has changed the lives of many. Here are 5 ways that it has changed our lives.

A New York University dropout posted a cryptic message online 17 years ago that said, "just setting up my twttr." When Twitter debuted in 2006, very few people could have imagined how profoundly and permanently it would change the media environment, political dialogue, and society.

Twitter supported political movements and social reckonings hashtag after hashtag, from #MeToo to #BlackLivesMatter, by boosting previously marginalised voices. Also, it helped make information instantly available from both traditional news outlets and citizen journalists, allowing anybody, everywhere, a direct view into history as it was happening.

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Changed how we consume news
You may frequently get the full details of what is occurring on the ground via Twitter when news breaks in locations with strong mobile connectivity. This took place during the Boston Marathon bombing, the Arab Spring, and the Paris attacks. While it has been a crucial tool for journalists covering such breaking events, the graphic material has also caused issues.

#BlackLivesMatter
Following George Zimmerman's acquittal in the shooting murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, the hashtag "Black Lives Matter" first appeared in a post. In response to the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014, the hashtag experienced a return. According to media reports, within the three weeks after Brown died, the hashtag was tweeted an average of 58,747 times daily.

The hashtag was used 1.7 million times in the three weeks that followed, on November 25, three months after Brown's murder, when a Ferguson grand jury decided not to prosecute the officer responsible.

In the years that followed, the hashtag was frequently used to call attention to anti-Black racism and police brutality against Black Americans in the United States. After George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis in May 2020, the hashtag once more became viral on social media as activists and regular people used it to call for reform.

#MeToo
Open conversations about sexual harassment and assault, particularly in the workplace, were mostly taboo and stigma-ridden for decades. That is, until a hashtag called #MeToo went viral on Twitter and finally caused the downfall of a number of well-known public personalities. A national awakening on sexual abuse was sparked by the hashtag, which unleashed the floodgates and enabled survivors to share their tales.

Memes, funny videos became our daily dose
The life cycle of a Twitter meme mainly happens as follows: teen does tweet, tweet goes viral, subject of said tweet ends up on the Ellen show. The cycle continues. We are sure that your day starts and ends with the memes and scrolling your social media pages.

Some received job opportunities
Self-promotion has limited positive effects in specific occupations. Unsurprisingly, many people have credited to the social media that they wouldn't be in their present profession without Twitter.

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