Exercise 2 Read the following text on twitter and answer the questions on the opposite page.

Twitter was created in March 2006 and launched in July of that year, by a 10-person startup in San Francisco called Obvious, is a heady mixture of messaging, social networking, micro blogging and presence, shorthand for the idea that people should enjoy an always on virtual omnipresence. The name twitter means chirps from birds in essence a short burst of inconsequential information Since then Twitter has gained popularity worldwide and is estimated to have 225 million users, generating 65 million tweets a day and handling over 800,000 search queries per day. It is sometimes described as the SMS of the Internet and its 140 character limit keeps the messages short and simple. The tipping point for Twitters popularity was the 2007 South by Southwest (SXSW) festival. During the event, Twitter usage increased from 20,000 tweets per day to 60,000. It had 400,000 tweets posted per quarter in 2007. In 2008 there were only 3 million registered users and in 2009 the number of registered users increased to 8 million. In the year 2011 over100 million new accounts added on Twitter. Twitterers or tweeters send and receive short messages, called tweets, on Twitters Web site, with instant messaging software, or with mobile phones. Its attraction as a social web media platform is possibly in its simplicity and real time messaging that enables breaking news and information to hit the web instantly without filters and censorship. When a user is logged in through the Web or a cellphone, it asks one simple question, What are you doing? Users answer in 140 characters or fewer. While some of these tweets have the profundity of haiku, most are mundane, like Sure is pretty out tonight or My eyes itch. I am very aggravated. Unlike most text messages, tweets are routed among networks of friends. Strangers, called followers, can also choose to receive the tweets of people they find interesting. In December, 2011, Twitter announced changes that make the messaging service simpler, faster and more personal. The company redesigned the software to address one of its biggest problems: the fact that many people know about Twitter but do not understand how to use the service or its various tools. With more than 200 million accounts, Twitter is part of an elite group of social Web start-ups that have flourished in recent years by rapidly attracting users. In the summer of 2011, Twitter raised $400 million from private investors. The fund-raising effort, led by DST Global, the investment firm headed by the Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, valued the company at $8 billion. In December, Prince Walid bin Talal of Saudi Arabia announced he had taken a $300 million stake in the company, representing roughly 3 percent. In its short history, Twitter has become an important marketing tool for celebrities, politicians and businesses, promising a level of intimacy never before approached online, as well as giving the public the ability to speak directly to people and institutions once comfortably on a pedestal. But someone has to do all that writing, even if each entry is barely a sentence long. In many cases, celebrities and their handlers have turned to outside writers ghost Twitterers, who keep fans updated on the latest twists and turns, often in the stars own voice. It is not only celebrities who are forced to look to a team to produce real-time commentary on daily activities, but also politicians like Ron Paul, who have assigned staff members to create Twitter posts and Facebook personas. Barack Obamas presidential campaign used Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Its attraction as a social web media platform is maybe in its simplicity and real time messaging that enables breaking news and information to hit the web instantly without filters and censorship.

(a) When was twitter created and introduced?

 [1] (b) Explain what the word Twitter means. [1] (c) From the text identify another name description given to twitter. [1] (d) Which year brought about a enormous change to twitters popularity? [1] (e) According to the pie chart provided in the text, for what function is twitter mostly used for? [1] (f) Give three likely reasons why twitter is so popular as a social web media stage? . . [2] (g) What is the name given to strangers who chose to accept tweets from people they are fond of. [1] (h) Name one of the biggest problem faced by twitter. [1] (i) Identify two benefits of twitter for its users. . [1] (j) State four facts about twitter. . . . [4] [14 marks]