Twitter

Twitter is a social media platform used for microblogging, the practice of expressing ideas and opinions through short messages. While communication is the primary function of Twitter, it is also utilized by a variety of users for purposes as varied as advertising, seeking employment, and gathering news. Twitter is unique among messaging applications in its open accessibility and public-facing user experience; unlike contemporaries such as Facebook or Instagram, Twitter does not require the permission of a user for others to be able to see their output except in rare instances when a user sets their account to private.

Increasingly, Twitter has become a platform used by journalists to break news and build their reputations in order to secure positions with larger institutions. Some news organizations look ...