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BUSINESS ENGLISH · BUSINESS ENGLISH · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

THE RISE OF
TWITTER (X)

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1 Warm up
In pairs, discuss the following questions.

1. Do you spend more time on Instagram or Twitter? Why?

2. When you think of Twitter, what is the first thing that comes to mind?
3. Why do you think that Twitter has become so influential?
4. Do you think that Twitter will become more or less popular in the future?

2 Focus on vocabulary
Match the following vocabulary to the definitions and then have a quick chat with your partner to
help you remember the words for longer.

1. mouthpiece (n) a. reduce how severe something is

2. factors (n) b. having a strong level of interest in somebody or something

3. infatuated (adj.) c. used something for a particular purpose

4. alleviate (v) d. a person, newspaper, website etc. that projects the views of a
group or individual
5. utilised (v) e. things that can influence, have an effect on something else

Talk to your partner

1. What factors influence your progress as an English learner?

2. Were you infatuated with any pop stars or actors when you were younger?
3. How do you alleviate the pain when you have a headache?

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THE RISE OF TWITTER (X)

3 Reading for gist

Read through the first part of the article by yourself and then with your partner try and answer the
following questions:

1. What two factors does the author talk about in relation to Twitter’s growth?
2. Which of those two factors mentioned do you think is the most significant in relation to Twitter’s
success?

The rise of Twitter – Part 1

As a social media platform, Twitter has risen to quite unbelievable heights. For example, did you know
that every second around 10,000 tweets are posted? At present, it has over 200 million daily active
users and it is known to be the mouthpiece of choice for a wide range of highly influential figures from
around the world. So, how did Twitter get to this point and what were the factors that led to its huge
popularity?

Launched on July 15th, 2006, the micro-messaging site was fairly unknown until it gained some much-
needed publicity at the 2007 South by Southwest Interactive conference. The SXSW attendees became
infatuated by the platform and by the end of the event the number of active users had almost tripled.

Twitter continued to grow at quite the pace however they faced a real problem in the fact that it was
surviving entirely on the strength of its capital investors and had yet to reach financial independence.
In 2010, the company tried to alleviate this problem by launching "Promoted Tweets", which were
adverts that would pop up when the search function was utilised by a user. The addition of "Promoted
Trends" also provided Twitter with precious income.

4 Find the vocabulary

Part A: Read through the rest of the article on page four and try to find the following words, compare
your answers with your partner.

1. very important, can have an effect on other things (adj., para. D)

2. has a reputation for being bad (adj., para. E)

3. the act of encouraging people to do something violent (n, para. E)

4. encourage something to grow and develop (v, para. E)

5. unstable and likely to become dangerous suddenly (adj., para. E)

6. made up of five people, groups or parts (adj., para. F)

7. very high and deserving of praise (adj., para. F)

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THE RISE OF TWITTER (X)

5 Skimming for general understanding

Read the following headings and match them to the correct paragraphs in the article on page four.
Three are not needed.

1. Civilian communication

2. Elon’s Ears

3. Tweet in a second

4. Making our own money

5. Greater than Instagram

6. Future goals

7. Conference of growth

8. More modern news

9. The fight continues

Now listen to check your answers.

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The rise of Twitter

How did this bird fly so high?
A. As a social media platform, Twitter has risen to quite unbelievable heights. For example, did you know that every
second around 10,000 tweets are posted? At present, it has over 200 million daily active users and it is known
to be the mouthpiece of choice for a wide range of highly influential figures from around the world. So, how did
Twitter get to this point and what were the factors that led to its huge popularity?

B. Launched on July 15th, 2006, the micro-messaging site was fairly unknown until it gained some much-needed
publicity at the 2007 South by Southwest Interactive conference. The SXSW attendees became infatuated with
the platform and by the end of the event, the number of active users had almost tripled.

C. Twitter continued to grow at quite the pace however they faced a real problem in the fact that it was surviving
entirely on the strength of its capital investors and had yet to reach financial independence. In 2010, the company
tried to alleviate this problem by launching "Promoted Tweets", which were adverts that would pop up when the
search function was utilised by a user. The addition of "Promoted Trends" provided Twitter with precious income.

D. A crucial feature in Twitter’s meteoric rise was the fact that it started to be used by millions for up-to-the-second
news, a feature that traditional forms of media could not compete with. A survey in 2022 showed that 69% of
journalists in the United States use Twitter more than any other social media site and the figure goes up to 83%
with journalists aged between 18 and 29. Some of the most memorable events which were communicated on
Twitter first include the Arab Spring, the death of Osama Bin Laden and the landing of a US Airways flight on the
Hudson River in New York.

E. Twitter continues to be highly influential and now has become a big part of how politicians communicate their
policies and their points of view. One of its most notorious users was ex-US President Donald Trump who was
suspended from the platform in 2021 "due to the risk of further incitement of violence" in relation to the 2021
attack on the US Capital. Before Trump was banned, he tweeted over 25,000 times during his time as President
and the White House stated that each tweet should be treated as an official statement. Trump successfully used
the platform to communicate with potential voters on the outskirts of society and managed to foster an active
but volatile fanbase. Other political figures such as Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India and Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, the President of Turkey have used Twitter to further their political influence.

F. With Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter now complete, the future of the platform may seem more unstable than
in the past. However, Musk has aggressively stated that he has what it takes to continue to make the site grow.
In one of his initial presentations, Musk said that he planned to quintuple profit by 2028 and predicted that the
number of users will increase by 600 million during the same timeframe. It is not 100% clear how he is going to
achieve these lofty goals, but his ownership of Twitter is certainly going to make headlines all on its own.

Sources: BusinessDIT, Pennington Creative, Smarter MSP, Britannica, Pew Research Center, PCMag, Follower Audit,
Wikipedia, The New York Times

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6 Reading comprehension
Read the following statements and decide if they are true (T), false (F) or not given (NG).

1. Most people could not imagine how popular Twitter would become.

2. Twitter was already popular by the time it turned up at SXSW.

3. In the beginning, Twitter used to rely on normal users to make money.

4. "Promoted Tweets" were created to produce more money.

5. Twitter is less popular with journalists in their twenties.

6. Trump was suspended from the platform because he had become too popular.

7. Elon Musk’s takeover took almost three years to complete.

8. It is not known how Musk is going to increase Twitter’s profits so dramatically.

7 Vocabulary for conversation: Natural language

Look at the expressions from the article with your partner and using the context, try to guess the
meaning of each one. Then, to help you remember the language, have a chat with your partner, and
use them to talk about your life.

• Twitter continued to grow at quite the pace

• Has become a big part of how politicians communicate
• Musk has aggressively stated that he has what it takes

Let’s chat.

1. Which industries are growing at quite the pace in your country?

2. Has your smartphone become a big part in how you live your life?
3. Do you have what it takes to become a successful English learner?

8 Talking point
In pairs discuss the following questions.

1. What was the most interesting part of the article for you? Did anything surprise you?
2. Have you thought about why politicians seem to prefer Twitter to other social media platforms?
3. Do you think the article will change how you use or interact with Twitter? Why/why not?

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THE RISE OF TWITTER (X)

9 Extra activity/Homework

Read the following essay proposal.

You are going to write an essay about the usefulness of Twitter for normal people.

You should include the following:

• The pros and cons of Twitter

• The difference between being a passive user and an active user

You should:

• Write at least 250 words

• Check your spelling, grammar and punctuation

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