The Dixie Sun

Issue date: 4/29/09 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: Bryan Uhri Social blogging sites such as www.twitter.com have helped people around the world stay connected through short status updates. The site has been available for people to use since 2006.

Twitter.com is among many online blogging sites but is different from other blogging sites in its structure and purpose.

The Web site is designed unlike MySpace, Facebook and Blogspot. Creating an account on the site allows you to follow certain people or groups, receiving notifications of recent activity and upcoming events.

Spencer Hill, a freshman art major from Los Angeles, said the site is used mostly by bands.

"We Shot the Moon updates more than once a day with things like pictures, upcoming shows and upcoming releases," Hill said.

Many public figures have Twitter accounts and share their twit pics (pictures) and their tweets (the answer to "What are you doing?"). According to Twitter.com, some celebrities who have accounts range from John Mayer to Tony Hawk and Mariah Carey to Demi Moore. Even organizations from Jet Blue Airways to Time.com also share updates via Twitter.com.

Becoming a "follower" of a person or group makes it so your homepage on the site shows the latest activity of the people you're following, Hill said. The nice thing about Twitter, he said, is you can follow people or groups without being added.

Hill said another upside to Twitter is that it's more simple than Facebook. There aren't walls to post on or quizzes to take; it's simply just seeing what other people are up to.

Despite its simplicity, Hill said Facebook provides the same things and more, so he hardly uses his Twitter account.

However, the majority of Dixie State College students who were asked about Twitter didn't know what it was.

Cheristian Lee, a freshman from Seattle majoring in music, was one of many who had never heard of the site. She likes Facebook's equivalent-the status update. But in general, Lee said online blogging is OK.

"If you're sharing your thoughts with those around you it can be good, but it can be a negative if you're blogging to post negative things and to just get bad attention," Lee said.

After hearing of the similarities that Facebook and Twitter share, Lee said she likes the idea of being notified about upcoming events, but she doesn't like knowing how easy it is for others to see what you're doing.

Even though Twitter is more simplistic than Facebook, people can still see what you're doing quite easily.

Hill said he's had some people become followers of his without even knowing who they are.

"That's when it becomes creepy," Hill said.

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