UPDATE: Tweet Chat: "A Closer Look at Twitter in 2012"

Jane Susskind

Published: 03 Dec, 2012

2 min read

UPDATE: Today, join IVN as we take a look back on Twitter in 2012 and the year of “firsts."

What: "A Closer Look at Twitter in 2012"

When: Today, December 6, 5pm Pacific/8pm Eastern

Where: Tweetchat.com

Hashtag: #indyvote

As the second largest social network in the world, Twitter has transformed the way we interact on and offline. As the year comes to a close, we want to take a closer look at how the social network has impacted 2012. What better way to discuss the topic than by holding a tweet chat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_tpGWs7Rrc

Twitter not only responded to the current events of 2012, but shaped them. As a year of "firsts," 2012 marks the beginning of a new digital era for journalists, politicians, public figures, voters, athletes, artists, and users worldwide.

This year was the first time a presidential debate was followed on Twitter, marking the beginning of a live fact checking phenomena. In 2012, millions of Americans participated in the most tweeted about event in history: our Presidential election.

The year 2012 is also the first year in which professional athletes were disqualified from the Olympic Games because of a tweet. It marks the first time Twitter was used as a primary source for information in the days following a natural disaster. Twitter created a space for open communication in the Middle East; not only facilitating protests, but providing the platform to live-tweet a war. In fact, the Israel Defense Force and Hamas both live-tweeted the most recent conflict.

By the numbers, the impact of Twitter is undeniable.

The most retweeted photo in history was tweeted by President Obama on November 6, 2012: 785,000.
90% of Senators & House members, 42 Governors & 35 world leaders have Twitter accounts.
People sent more than 20 million tweets about Hurricane Sandy between October 27 and November 1st. That's 7 million more tweets than were sent during the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. Combined.
Since 2011, the number of users on Twitter has more than doubled, rising from 200 million to over 500 million Twitter users.
With over 31 million tweets, the 2012 election was the most tweeted about event in U.S. politics, peaking at 327,000 tweets per minute.

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UPDATE: Tweet Chat: &quot;A Closer Look at Twitter in 2012&quot;