Twitter itself is nothing new. The online world of hashtags and @-mentions was founded by Jack Dorsey in 2006 as a way for users to express themselves in 140 characters or less. The most popular social media website on the Internet, Facebook, has always been popular amongst Darien High School students, with incoming freshmen and even middle-schoolers joining the social network as early as they can. But until spring of last year, Twitter did not have the same draw to DHS students as many students were unaware of how to completely utilize the site. “It’s really confusing,” senior Danno Rizzuto says. “I can’t figure it out so I don’t tweet.” Slowly but surely, though, DHS students are becoming “Twitterfied”. More and more students are creating Twitter accounts, seemingly out of nowhere. The question is, why? Why has Twitter become so popular so quickly in Darien and also, why did it take so long?
Why has it become so popular?
One of the biggest draws to Twitter has been the challenge to come up with a creative Twitter handle. This is what your name is in the Twitter world and what people refer to you as. Some students even admit to delaying making their accounts until they can come up with something creative. Junior Lydia Ruhlin says she still doesn’t have a Twitter because, “I can’t come up with a good name.” For other students, though, the thought of making a good name pulls them in and then hooks them. Senior Mitchell Wisinski (@Mitch__please) tells Neirad that he only got his Twitter “because I had a good name idea. But now I tweet almost every day.” Creating a good Twitter name has become somewhat of an art form and a competition. While this competitive spirit has brought out its collection of lame clichés it has also displayed some of Darien High School students’ greatest creativity.
What has taken so long?
In the past five years, Facebook has been the go-to social media site while Twitter has taken a back seat. For a generation that has been defined as being lazy, it is somewhat understandable. Twitter was foreign; the learning curve is much like riding a bike. It’s harder than it looks, and kind of tedious, but once you get it down there is nothing stopping you. Once you get the hang of it, Twitter is a quicker, more informal way of not only keeping in touch with friends and family, but also reaching out to celebrities and professional athletes. All of this adds up to what one would think would be the perfect website for a DHS teen.
One of the fears non-Twitter users have is a fear of being judged for their tweets. This fear has culminated in many people choosing not to get an account so their peers don’t think differently of them.
Really, though, it only took a few people to start the DHS Twitter movement. Senior Henry West (@HWest32) and former DHS student Geoff Short (@GShortOfficial) were two of the students who sparked the craze. Hearing how funny other peoples’ tweets are has resulted in the long-awaited Twitter takeover of our school.
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Read Neirad's past articles on other social networks:
http://www.darienps.org/neirad/1011fbsupergroup.php
http://www.darienps.org/neirad/1011fbprivacy.php
