What’s a tweet?

For centuries, a “tweet” has been the sound a bird makes for most of its history. Nevertheless, the term ‘tweet’ has taken on a whole new meaning with the introduction of Facebook and Twitter.

A tweet is an online posting generated by a Twitter user or “micro-blog.” Each tweet has the function of answering the question “What are you doing?”

However, tweets can contain any details that you wish to share, such as your weekend plans, your opinions on a television program, or even notes from a lecture. You may use a computer or a cell phone to publish a tweet.

When published, the tweet will appear on the home pages of all users who follow you on Twitter. Equally, your home page on Twitter will show the users’ latest tweets that you are following.

The character limit of a tweet

A constraint of no more than 140 characters on each tweet is imposed. The 140-character limit differs from the 160-character limit the short message service (SMS) allows. Twitter reserved usernames for the other 20 characters.

This restriction enables several tweets to be viewed on one page without such tweets consuming any more space than others. However, it also means that tweets need to be short, and you need to pick your words wisely.

Of course, there is no limit as to how many tweets you can write, so you can publish many tweets in a row if you really have a lot to say. After all, what a better way to spend your time than letting the world know you’re at Starbucks, drinking a Frappuccino, and reading TIME magazine’s latest story. This is something that is important to share with the world.

These examples picture the meaning of the word “tweet”:

• “She has been happily tweeting about the whole thing.”, The Sun (2016)
• “She tweeted a picture of herself, then seeking comfort from her dog.”, The Sun (2016)