Johnson, Stephen. “How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live.” Time. Time, Inc. 5 June 2009. Web. 16 Feb. 2011.
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"The most fascinating thing about Twitter," states Stephen Johnson, "is not what it's doing to us. It's what we're doing to it." In the article, "How Twitter Will Change Our Lives," writer Stephen Johnson talks about just how much users have changed the social network. "The convention of grouping a topic or event by the "hashtag" was spontaneously invented by the Twitter user base," states Johnson. Twitter allows users to keep in touch with friends, while it can also allow them to search real time conversations about trendy topics. Many in the technology world have come to the realization that Twitter will only become bigger, with a buyout offer from Facebook of a reportedly $500 million dollars helping prove this. Users of Twitter today have begun seeing the potential of the social network as well. Not only has it become a way to let friends know what is on their to-do list for that day, but it can also be used for advertising and distributing certain products for businesses. Many of the tools currently available to Twitter users were created by Twitter users themselves. Twitter has no limits, and continues to be changed by the users to make the Twitter experience as useful as possible.
Stephen Johnson's point of view in this article is very crucial because it show's the audience the background of Twitter, the uses of the site itself, as well as how users have continued to change it to their liking. Johnson ultimately helps open the eyes of the readers, showing them just how much Twitter has began to grow. Johnson also points out many ways to use Twitter, like in advertising, and keeping up with friends. This also helps the reader find out more about the social networking site. Johnson’s point of this article was to inform the public that Twitter only has room to grow. Because users have made Twitter a more useful tool themselves by creating more tools, the possibilities are endless. He himself has used Twitter, even in a conference with a room full of business men. This shows that today, technology and social network sites have become intertwined with everything we do as a whole. Johnson also helps the reader realize that Twitter can also be a bad thing. "Most of us," says Johnson, "have learned firsthand how addictive the micro-events of our personal e-mail inbox can be." This helps show the reader that Stephen Johnson knows and realizes that this is not necessarily all a good thing, and also shows he is unbiased, helping the reader allow themselves to form an unbiased opinion themselves.
