Twitter has become the online soapbox for ordinary citizens the world over – a space in which news is broken, digested, given colour and context. With the mainstream media industry now often looking to social networks for that critical headstart on stories, increasingly Twitter users set out with the aim to shape the news.
Since the start of the Arab spring we have witnessed the micro-blogging site become a powerful forum for protest not only in countries with a poor track record in press freedom but also in western nations such as the United States, where information about the Occupy Wall Street movement in its early days was largely circulated through Twitter.
Twitter users are utilising the social network to spread information, exchange ideas, open debates and set a news agenda independent of the mainstream media. While at times this can mean breaking news, it can also take the form of shedding a different light on topics that already dominate the mainstream news agenda. When in February Somali Twitter users around the world tweeted a running commentary on the Somalia conference in London under the hashtag #LDNSomalia, they heavily criticised the same event news organisations were largely lauding a success. Twitter provided an alternative view on the meeting which had been called to discuss the piracy, poverty, famine and armed conflict plaguing the country. The social network provided a platform for voices that were all but absent from news reports and reflected the mood among Somalis who felt that their voices and that of their government were being drowned out by the western nations present (our story).
Greeks have used social networking to great effect in rallying opposition to government policies and media representation of the political and financial crisis in the country. In May, Greek Twitter users took their anger at the media out of the virtual space and onto the streets of Athens when they trended the hashtag #Oloimega (our story). The tag called for protests outside the private TV broadcaster Mega TV against what protesters perceived as biased reporting of anti-austerity demonstrations.
The hashtag spread the word online, prompting hundreds to turn up for the protest. Twitter users intuitively dip into the issues that strike a nerve with them. With the use of hashtags they build forums which are open to everyone. Finding a pool of people with whom to share opinions, kick-start debates and find communality has never been so easy, and that in turn can become a catalyst for actions not only in the virtual space but also offline.
In August 2011 Twitter proved itself a successful news wire for festival goers in Belgium when tragedy struck. When high winds brought down tents, killing and injuring a number of people at the Pukkelpop festival, Twitter was not only used to spread the news but also to organise help under #hasselthelpt (our story). People nearby offered accommodation and helped contact loved ones spreading their messages via the tag.
Politicians, companies and corporations too have been noting the power of the hashtag and finding ways to turn it to their advantage, even as the word itself enters popular parlance. In April, US president Barack Obama made history as the first American president to use the word hashtag in a speech:
It's one thing to have the US president kick off a hashtag, but they're not always so easy to identify. With over 140 million active Twitter accounts and some 340 million tweets per day, according to Twitter's own blog, finding the newsworthy topics can present a challenge. But as quickly as hashtags appear, so too do tools to help those interested tap into new stories and relevant debates.
Twitter itself provides lists of trending topics in the form of hashtags or individual words across a range of countries and cities. However, Top Trends will only show up topics that have already been spread widely. The website Trendsmap, which logs recurring words and hashtags in tweets around the world by mapping them geographically, allows users to delve a little deeper and uncover more hidden topics. It also throws up breaking hashtags and words on its homepage that showcase emerging trends. The Twitter account @statweestics also tracks emerging trends responding with quick updates on breaking Twitter topics. This tweet on June 4 highlighted a hashtag prompted by a tweet from US President Barack Obama's Twitter account about the pay gap between men and women in the US. It was sent less than an hour after the initial tweet by Obama drawing attention to the rising popularity of the topic.
For anyone sourcing news stories on Twitter, well-built Twitter lists with reliable and active sources are vital. Such lists, which should consist of trusted bloggers, journalists and opinion leaders, can provide the best head-start on identifying newsworthy content in its very early stages. While active journalists online are often quick to pick up emerging trends and amplify them, the critical sources that often lie at the roots of news content online are often activists and bloggers who have made Twitter their home.
Isolating popular hashtags as they emerge and paying attention to the content therein means journalists can now tap into what people are talking about all over the world. News no longer flows in in one direction, from media outlets to audiences, but has become a two-way street where the public can give input on and ultimately influence the news agenda. The hashtag allows them to speak in a collective voice that becomes amplified by the numbers that pass it on, rising above the information hubub and, these days, onto the headlines.
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