What is Microblogging, and Why Should I Care?

Ok, so you know Twitter broke this year, but you don't know exactly what Twitter is or why it exists. You've heard this term "microblogging," but it sounded like something teenagers did with their countless hours of free time. You made a Facebook, but only so you could see your grandkids' pictures.

What now?

This crazy thing called microblogging is growing around you, and you might never know it. The way people obtain information is changing, and as giants like Twitter and Facebook loom over those who are a little less that technologically savvy, it is easy to be overwhelmed.

The basics of microblogging, Twitter, and Facebook
Let's start this explanation out easy. When life was simpler and slower-paced, people kept journals and wrote letters. Then, when the Internet entered the scene, people kept journals and wrote emails. When the Internet grew in popularity, people began to keep blogs (short for "weblog" or an Internet-based journal) and wrote emails.

Social networking entered the scene. Facebook, MySpace, Xanga, and the like connected people and allowed them to share pictures, stories, links, etc. Those social networks grew, and the messages in emails grew shorter. Microblogging began.

Microblogging is essentially a short quip, picture, or update about something that a person or company wants the world to know. The standard, set by microblogging pioneer Twitter, is 140 characters (or letters). Other social networks such as Facebook and MySpace also sport a similar microblogging device called a status update.

Where is microblogging going?
So, in a nutshell, microblogging occurs whenever people, stars, or companies blurt out little digital updates on social networks like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc. Recently this practice of microblogging has grown to astounding proportions.

More people are getting their news from microblogging sites like Twitter than from the traditional news outlets because this new practice is instantaneous and concise. Media stars bypass the paparazzi altogether now by posting their own status updates, microblogging until their hearts are content knowing that people have as much information as they might desire.

One of the most intriguing new applications of microblogging is that people now have the ability to market their own content and products. Anyone who can create an idea or piece of content that can go viral (meaning that people spread it on their own) has the chance to garner their own success via the pulsating, living, breathing blogosphere (a fancy term meaning all of the writings of weblogs and the Twitter and Facebook updates sent by microbloggers; think "the world of bloggers").

Microblogging, Twitter, and Facebook can no longer be ignored.
Whether you like it or not, whether you understand it or not, microblogging is here and it is digging in its heels to stay. Those who thought that Twitter would die out once people got tired of telling the world what they had for breakfast were, well...wrong. Facebook has more people in its domain than most countries. And, as stated before, even the traditional news outlets are being run out of town by the collective microblogging mass.

Look for even more change to come in the future, and for microblogging via the likes of Twitter and Facebook to continue to grow and evolve.