Technology | The Juju guide to Twitter

By Anna Malczyk

The recent conflict between the ANCYL and the Twitter community highlights how important it is to be well versed in online matters. There is no doubt that the internet is the most democratic medium today. It allows anyone to have a say about matters that affect them – entertainment, work, even politics. Knowing how to use the internet has become a required life skill, but many people – like, admittedly, Julius Malema – still feel out of their depth.

If you’re feeling as lost as Julius when it comes to Twitter, here’s a basic guide to how the social network works – and how you can get involved.

What is it?
Twitter is an online social tool that lets anyone in the world post short messages publicly. Twitter users can follow anyone else who uses the tool to get instant updates from them, and can be followed themselves.

How does it work?
Quite simply, type a 140-character message (about the length of an SMS) and publish it for your followers to see. You can address someone directly by using their unique Twitter username (for example, @JuliusM). You can also indicate the topic of your message by including a “hashtag”, which is any word preceded by the # symbol (for example, #JujuFriday).

How do you get started?
It’s very easy: simply visit www.twitter.com and click on the prominent “sign up now” link. Just enter your personal details, choose a unique username and you’re ready to go. That’s all there is to it – no special skills or technology required.  You can even use your cellphone.

How do you make an impact?
South Africans have shown that this part is easy, too. During the World Cup, the hashtag #vuvuzela became a worldwide “trending topic”, which means that it was one of the top 10 discussed topics at the time. Today, in protest against Julius Malema’s radical outbursts and threats against Twitter, local and international Twitter users are ridiculing the ANCYL leader by posting joke messages using the #JujuFriday hashtag. This simple act, multiplied many times, has created a worldwide stir.

There is nothing difficult or scary about using a tool like Twitter – and the benefits of getting involved can be considerable. No business, organisation or political party can afford to fall behind in the online space. And threatening to “closer” a hugely popular social platform is bound to cause a massive backlash – an important lesson to learn.


This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution license.