“Tweet” has always been the noise a bird makes, but in the past few years, this word has been associated with the Internet’s most popular bird: Twitter.

Twitter, as you likely know, is a social networking site known for its whimsical bird icon where users can upload photos, videos and text posts under 140 characters. User profiles allow customization of account pictures and cover photos, similar to Facebook. Private messaging is an option when users follow each other. Other people’s accounts have the ability to follow, favorite and reply to your tweets. Additionally, people can “retweet” your posts, allowing them to appear on their profiles. In the end, each individual profile is a collage of personal thoughts and photos, intermixed with relevant tweets from people who you choose to follow.

Some people use Twitter as a professional tool used to link articles and documents, while other people blog personal information and private interests. Countless professionals in the entertainment industry manage Twitter accounts of their own, making some of the most known names in international cultures accessible like never before to normal students and average members of society. The site combines the simplicity of having a journal at your fingertips and the intrigue of reading small bits of interesting texts.

Although the surface purposes of the social networking sites are similar, there’s a freedom to Twitter that other social networking sites don’t have. Having the ability to express small blurbs of thought without censorship or a post limit draws millions of people in, although, sometimes, the 140-character limit on text posts becomes a bit of a burden.

Tumblr may contain an infinite number of photos, Facebook may have the ability to allow people to keep in touch with loved ones and Instagram may be every aspiring photographer’s dream, but in the end, Twitter is all of that and, despite its brevity, more.