Upon joining Twitter, as a naïve little newbie I have to admit that at first I could not see how this platform could improve networking, raise the awareness of online recruitment or why it was such a huge influence in the social media world. However, I had to bow down to the awesome power of it when Twitter mercilessly murdered several celebrities; Christian Slater, Jim Carrey, Morgan Freeman, Owen Wilson, Charlie Sheen, Eddie Murphy and even the mighty Jackie Chan have all, temporarily, fallen under Twitter’s sword.
However, perhaps, being as there hasn’t been a Twitter killing in a few months (the last major one being Nelson Mandela), we have been lulled back into our happy lives of blogging, tweeting about tea and cakes and ash clouds and generally having a lovely time. It is at this point that Twitter felt it was time to remind us all of its awesome power.
About a week ago, some stirrings of rebellion about celebrities using ‘super-injunctions’ to cover up their various misdeeds, surfaced in the news. These stirrings boiled over in the form of one Tweeter who uncovered various celebrity names who had apparently taken out super-injunctions. In reaction to this, a certain footballer decided to try and sue this mysterious Tweeter and demand that Twitter aid him in tracking them down.
It is at this point that all Tweeters far and wide took up arms to defend their beloved Twitter homeland. In challenging such a social force, this footballer unwittingly unearthed a wasps nest and his scandal, which up until that point most people felt indifferent to, became something that two million people were talking about. Today, after several appeals to overturn the injunction (even though anybody could go on the internet to find out who he was anyway) the footballer’s face has appeared in our newspapers.
As far as Ryan Giggs vs. Twitter has panned out, Twitter has most definitely won the game, set and match.
I think a story like this shows us that Twitter is so powerful because of all the people on it – it is a platform where people power seems to be magnified to an unstoppable force. Whether it’s secretly organising protests in Tunisia or standing up to a footballer determined to get his own way, Twitter has proved to be more than just an excellent forum for social media and an aid to online recruitment– Twitter and my fellow Tweeters, I salute you.
-Emily
Picture credits: Ubergizmo
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