Key Points
- The platform's ability to provide first hand accounts as news happens was highlighted during the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks.
- Twitter played a role in the #BLM and #MeToo movements.
- Covfefe, no that's not a typo.
Since launching in 2006, Twitter has given voice to events, ideas and people.
As tweeps speculate about the future of the platform they love and loathe, here’s a look back at the role the blue bird app has played in the past.
Big messages in small posts
It was in 2008 when Twitter's potential to provide first-hand accounts of world events as they happened really came to light.
While still unknown to many worldwide, many of Twitter's early users came from the IT industry community in Mumbai, India.
Some of the first details of the November 2008 terrorist attacks that targeted hotels and buildings across the city, killing 174 people, came via tweets with the hashtag #Mumbai.
At the time, tweets were limited to just 140 characters but have since been increased to 280.
Academic papers have been written about Twitter's role during the event, which, according to CNN, generated about 80 tweets every five seconds, providing eyewitness accounts and updates from the scenes.
What makes Twitter different?
Digital strategist Meg Coffey said Twitter's ability to provide first-hand accounts of events as they happen is unrivalled.
"It's great for breaking news when there are things that happen that for mainstream media it might not be the right time of day for them to report or it's too niche for them to report," she told SBS News.
In another example, a 2011 tweet by an IT consultant about a 'helicopter hovering above' his hometown in Pakistan provided a first-hand account of the US capture and killing of Osama bin Laden.
Sohaib Athar continued to share details about the incident via a series of tweets, including the sound of an explosion and what other residents in the area were saying.
His tweets described the moments when US navy seals arrived by helicopter, and blew up one of two of the black hawk helicopters they had arrived in after it got damaged from a hard landing.
A platform for voices
Ms Coffey said Twitter had also provided opportunities for activism, such as during the Arab Spring protests and the global #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter movements.
Digital strategist Meg Coffey says she loves Twitter for the community she has built on the social media platform. Source: Supplied / Lanie Sims
"They were able to spread information and share information, in a way much faster than traditional media," she said.
@IndigenousX gave control of its account to a different Indigenous individual each week.
After more than a decade of providing a platform for different First Nations perspectives, the account paused the practice of having a rotating host posting each week.
Unfortunately, just a couple of months ago the rotating hosting schedule for the account was paused after tweets from Professor of Indigenous Studies at Sydney's Macquarie University, Sandy O’Sullivan attracted so much online abuse those behind the account became concerned they may not be able to "provide a safe space for hosts or followers.”
Innovative uses
Rotational curation or #rocur is also popular on the social media platform where Twitter accounts are hosted temporarily by different individuals.
While especially popular in science communities to share knowledge and ideas, it was used by the Swedish Institute between 2008 and 2011 when it handed over the country's official Twitter account to a different Swede each week.
The idea was to showcase Sweden on a global stage through the eyes of its people.
Ms Coffey said such online "takeovers" gave voice to different perspectives that they may not have otherwise been exposed to.
One for the memes and pop culture
Ms Coffey said Twitter had been the starting point and discussion board for many pop culture references within the past decade.
"I think Twitter is responsible for so much in pop culture; when these moments happen, we lean into them," she said.
This includes polarising former US president Donald Trump, whose Twitter presence was, more often than not, controversial.
In 2017, at the height of Mr Trump's Twitter use, he tweeted, .
Ms Coffey said this tweet and the fact that Mr Trump would not clarify what he had meant prompted much parodying and memes on Twitter.
"God forbid he actually make a mistake and admit that he's made a mistake," she said.
The 'word' now has its own Wikipedia entry and was used by many to welcome the on the weekend.
More recently, during the COVID-19 pandemic, an accidental tweet from an account people had been following for expert insight into case numbers caused an alcohol outlet's name to trend.
Immunologist Peter Doherty had meant to Google the hours of the bottle shop, but instead sent his query as a tweet.
The future of Twitter
Hundreds of Twitter employees are estimated to be leaving the beleaguered social media company following an ultimatum from new owner Elon Musk that staffers
While many on Twitter are speculating whether the changes and layoffs being made by Mr Musk will see the downfall of Twitter, Ms Coffey does not think the platform will disappear altogether.
"I don't think that Twitter is completely over; I just think that what it was is no longer, and I think we're in for some changes," she said.
"I do think Twitter will survive. It's just what it becomes is the next question."
Ms Coffey said the departure of so many Twitter staff from the company could potentially result in new social platforms being launched.
