Twitter has come a long way since its humble beginnings in 2006. Now exceeding 500 million users a mere six years on, the micro-blogging site continues to be a firm leader in the world of social media and I don’t expect this to change anytime soon.
Inspired in part by SMS, Twitter has helped pave the way for people to get their point across in 140 characters or less. And by sticking to their guns with this set character restriction, it has proved itself more adaptable to a mobile experience with over 80% of UK users now accessing Twitter from their mobile phone.
Smart phones have become a second skin for many of us these days, as we relentlessly scroll through our Twitter feed while on the go and at our desks for a daily (or sometimes hourly) ‘fix’ of updates from people that we follow.
We feel an urgent compulsion to make sure we remain up to speed on the latest happenings and dread the thought of missing out on a trending topic on Twitter!
Unlike other social networks that connect you with friends and family members, Twitter was among the first platforms to give us a glimpse into the lives of celebrities, broadcasters, politicians and sport stars.
It provides celebrities and high profile figures from across all industries with the chance to express their views and ultimately control their online voice.
The communication may take the form of an MP expressing views on new legislation, a footballer tweeting ahead of a big game, or an author announcing a sequel. Either way it provides access to previously unobtainable information from the public figures we want to hear from, at the click of a ‘follow’ button.
These are people we would previously have been unable to have a dialogue with, and now we can ‘tweet’ them directly in the hope that they’ll reply or simply re-tweet - which can become a claim to fame.
Quite simply, Twitter has added a new dimension of insight that we wouldn't be able to get any other way.
HeraldScotland has collated The Scottish Twitter 100 List, an overview of the Scots making an impact on twitter across all industries from business, literature, sport and comedy.
This list will be getting updated later this year, so let us know of any influential Scots you follow on Twitter who you would like to see included.
The most followed Scottish Tweeters by sector are:
Business: Pete Cashmore (2,931,558 followers) Read Business Top 10
Broadcasting: Craig Ferguson (1,288,229) Read Broadcasting Top 10
Literature: JK Rowling (1,287,687) Read Literature Top 10
Sport: Andy Murray (982,419) Read Sport Top 10
Food and drink: Gordon Ramsay (925,213) Read Food and Drink Top 10
Comedy: Frankie Boyle (774,744) Read Comedy Top 10
Music: Paolo Nutini (157,320) Read Music Top 10
Acting: Karen Gillan (126,694) Read Acting top 10
Fashion: Stacey Duguid (23,838) Read Fashion Top 10
Politics: Alex Salmond (23,167) Read Politics Top 10
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