Overview
Twitter (ツイッター, Tsuittā) is a social networking service operated by a U.S. company that allows users to post tweets to other users and outsiders, and to reply to their own tweets and those of other users. This social network changed its name to "X" in 2023.
Twitter means "chirping/excitement" or "idle talk" in English.
Depending on how it is used, it can be used for a variety of purposes, from personal diaries to discussions of hobbies, etc., to corporate advertising and services.
In the past, there were no age restrictions on use of the system, but now it is not allowed for those under 13 years of age, and accounts may be deleted if they are confirmed to be under 12.
Terms, Specifications
Tweet
To post a message on Twitter. Also, the content of the post.
Not only text, but also images, videos, GIFs, audio, etc. can be posted.
Timeline
Screen to display tweets in chronological order.
Follow
Allowing a specific user's tweets to appear on your timeline.
Followers
Users who follow you.
Heart
You can push hearts to tweets, hearts are a form of liking a post. Some users tweet in order to have their hearts pushed. While rare, some hearts will have a different animation when clicked.
Retweet
To "repost" another user's tweet to the timelines of your followers. The more retweets are made, the more people will see the tweets. Therefore, when companies conduct campaigns, they often offer prizes such as drawing for gifts as a reward for retweeting.
In some cases, this system works positively in terms of advertising and disaster prevention. However, there is no end to the number of users who use this system to spread false rumors or to hurt someone up en masse.
Trends
When many people tweet about a particular word at the same time, it appears in the trend list. This allows users to see at a glance what is currently being talked about on Twitter. When a word is trending, it is seen by a large number of unspecified people, so companies and celebrities can expect a very high advertising effect.
Hashtag
A hashtag (#) is a marker used to categorize posts by specific keywords.
Adding a hashtag has the following effects on searches by other users:
- See trends in real time.
- Display only the topics that interest you.
Direct Messaging (DM)
A service that allows users to send messages directly to users.
Like tweets, there was a limit of 140 characters, but this was greatly relaxed in August 2015 and changed to 10,000 characters or less.
Blocking
Blocking users whom you do not want to see will prevent them from appearing on your timeline, etc., and will also prevent them from seeing your profile and tweets. Some celebrities often block users they don't like, and it is often talked about.
Private Account
A feature that prevents anyone other than your followers from seeing your tweets.
Suspension
Accounts may be suspend when tweets are made that violate the terms of the agreement.
Character Limit
The character limit for tweets is 140 characters.
Incidentally, Twitter's character limit of 140 characters is derived from the 160 character limit of SMS (Short Message Service), which is widely used on cell phones.
Of the 160-character SMS character limit, Twitter uses 140 characters for tweets and the remaining 20 characters for displaying user names. The reason for this limitation is to avoid consuming characters when entering URLs and hashtags for categorization.
Japanese is an extremely advantageous language for the system. The 140-character limit makes no distinction between byte counts. Furthermore, since Chinese text basically uses only Chinese characters, more content can be packed into fewer characters than in Japanese.
Pasting Links
Links can be set by entering the URL of an external link in a tweet.
Pro Account
Features for business and brand owners, creators and publishers. A system for Twitter accreditation of corporate and commercial accounts. This is a way to prove authenticity, monetize, and publicize publicity for a fee.
A wide range of professions can be set up, from kings to psychics.
The rules and regulations are strict, and personal accounts that are not related to a company or business may be frozen or banned if they are set up improperly, so don't do it just for fun.
Corporate History
Corporate Transition
Twitter was launched in the U.S. in August 2006 and became a hot topic in the U.S. in March 2007, followed by a Japanese version in April 2008.
In November 2013, Twitter Inc. was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. However, the company's performance has been difficult because it generates less revenue from advertising than other social networking services such as Facebook, but became profitable in 2018.
The possibility of a sale was suggested in 2016, but due to too many human rights violations by users, the companies decided that an acquisition would have a negative impact. As a result, the acquisition was dropped and Twitter's stock price fell sharply.
Then, in 2022, the company accepted a 100% takeover offer by businessman Elon Musk.
Twitter Users
In Japan, Twitter is often regarded as the leading social networking service, but in terms of the number of users worldwide, it is far behind Facebook, YouTube, and Weibo. Nevertheless, Twitter is a favorite of celebrities and politicians around the world, and its influence on politics and culture is significant.
Twitter itself describes itself as "an interest-based network service with loose connections, similar in nature to a news site" and differs from social networking sites, which focus on two-way communication.
Japan is one of the world's leading Twitter kingdoms, with an estimated 45 million active users (of course, this number may include sub-accounts and bots). It is second only to the U.S. in the world, and even surpasses the U.S. in terms of usage per capita.
In addition to the migration of the anonymous users who used to be on 2channel and private sites, some social games and other services such as Pixiv and Nico Nico Douga are linked, and it is said that there are many otakus among the users.
The average age of users is estimated to be 35, with 20s and 30s as the main demographic.
Competition with other SNS
Twitter tends to be preferred over Facebook in Japan, where people prefer to remain anonymous, due to its anonymity and the ease of obtaining an account.
Younger generations also tend to prefer LINE, and many of them use LINE for real acquaintances, such as family members, lovers and friends, because of the free calls available.
Instagram specializes in posting photos, which differs from Twitter, where text is the main form of transmission.
Because posting sexually explicit images on Twitter may be regulated, some artist and cosplayers have shifted their activities to Fantia.
Note that they are subject to censorship in China and are in principle unavailable from the mainland. Instead, alternative applications such as Weibo and WeChat have became popular.
Changes in Users
In the beginning, the site was more secure than 2channel, and it was even touted as the tool of the future because of its easy access to celebrities.
However, it is increasingly used as a tool for information dissemination and incitement by those with radical political views and those who enjoy bashing, and crimes on SNS such as selfie edits, fraud, and online stalking are not uncommon today. Even if you do nothing, you may suddenly find yourself in trouble one day.
It has become commonplace to see tweets of human rights violations such as hoaxes, discrimination, slander, and other negative comments that take advantage of disasters, commotion, and incidents. Arrests have even been made in cases such as the Kumamoto earthquake lion hoax incident.
So-called "sick official" accounts that officially tweeted luridly were also considered novel at first, but they gradually became the subject of a series of flames for saying unnecessary things.
Furthermore, with the rise of LINE as a private social networking service and Instagram as a tool for interacting with celebrities, twitter has become a place where people can say the things they cannot say in such a forum. Due in part to incompetent management, twitter has become an outrageously lawless zone.
Although the number of users is said to be very large, there are cases where individuals manage multiple accounts with different purposes, and there are also accounts called "bots" that only make automated statements. There are also cases where individuals and organizations use different accounts, companies own multiple accounts, and accounts are created for sock puppets and block-breakers.
