Is Twitter Still Relevant? Hear My Thoughts on Inside Story TV

Madalyn Sklar on Al Jazeera TV

Twitter turned 10 years old this week! The international channel Al Jazeera featured a topic on Twitter talking about whether it’s still relevant after all these years. The network invited a three-person guest panel to give insights into the impact and implications of Twitter in our world today. I was honored to be one of the guests and very excited to share my thoughts on it both then and now.

Check out the interview below as we discuss things like the challenges Twitter is facing right now, how it’s being used today, Twitter’s social implication, some controversies it’s facing including the issue on bullying and people farming, addiction to Twitter, and whether Twitter is still fun to use.

I love the power of Twitter! I mentioned how in 2008 a US protester in Egypt tweeted the word “arrested” and it was echoed worldwide.

Personally, I think Twitter is what you make of it. It’s about being real and transparent. At the same time, people are listening on Twitter. People do pay attention. They are watching what others are talking about. So listening is critical. You’ve got to listen to the conversations.

I don’t think Twitter has lost its identity either. Sure it’s gone through changes especially in the past year but I don’t see Twitter losing its impact or power.

Ultimately, it boils down to Responsible Tweeting. Just because you have a readily available communication platform does not mean you can degrade or discriminate other people. Yes, it’s about being authentic and genuine, but it’s also about using good judgment with the information you put out there, be it on Twitter or any other social network.

Lastly, since we’re celebrating Twitter’s 10th, I figured I’d share with you some Twitter trivia:

  • World’s first tweet was sent on March 21, 2006 by co-founder Jack Dorsey
  • Twitter is ranked as third social media behind Facebook and Instagram
  • 320 million Twitter users every month
  • 6,000 tweets every second
  • 500 million tweets every day