CONTENTSCONTENTS...............................................................................................................................................1LISTOFILLUSTRATIONS.....................................................................................................................2ABSTRACT...............................................................................................................................................31BACKGROUND..............................................................................................................................42THECHARACTERISTICSOFTWITTER......................................................................................42.1WHATMICRO-BLOGGINGMEANS?.....................................................................................42.2TWITTER’SSOCIALNETWORKSYSTEM.............................................................................52.3THEPROCESSOFINFORMATIONDISSEMINATION.........................................................62.4THEFEATURESOFTWITTERASMEDIA..............................................................................63THEROLETWITTERPLAYASMEDIA.......................................................................................83.1TWITTERUSEDASTRADITIONALMEDIA..........................................................................83.2TWITTERASADVERTISINGMEDIA......................................................................................83.3TWITTERAGAINSTNEWSBLACKOUT................................................................................84PERSONALVIEWPUBLICATION...............................................................................................95ANALYSIS.....................................................................................................................................105.1ADVANTAGES.........................................................................................................................105.1.1FASTMEDIA........................................................................................................................105.1.2EFFECTIVEADVERTISING...............................................................................................105.2DISADVANTAGES..................................................................................................................125.2.1NARROWCASTINGONTWITTER.....................................................................................125.2.2DISINFORMATION.............................................................................................................125.2.3ANTI-DEMOCRATIC..........................................................................................................136CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................13Referencelist...........................................................................................................................................15Bibliography............................................................................................................................................16LISTOFILLUSTRATIONSFigure1:ItshowsthepercentsofglobalInternetuserswhovisitthosewebsites.....................5Figure2Tweetcountfollowingthe2009M...
