TWITTER STORM

What Does TWITTER STORM Mean?

The Quick Answer

TWITTER STORM means "A Super-Hot Trending Topic On Twitter."

More Detail...

A TWITTER STORM is a message on Twitter that attracts a very significant amount of attention from other Twitter users. When a tweet and hashtag are tweeted and retweeted quickly enough, the topic is included on Twitter's "trending" list and displayed to all Twitter users, even those who are not followers of the original poster. This often leads to the original tweet crossing to other social media sites and the mainstream media. A TWITTER STORM is usually a natural phenomenon, driven by a tweet that captures the public imagination. However, as it is such an effective way to quickly spread an idea or opinion, many advertisers and organizations try to provoke a TWITTER STORM in order to gain publicity. According to a 2011 report by Precise, a UK-based business information monitoring group, there are three types of TWITTER STORM:

• The Perfect TWITTER STORM: A story that starts on Twitter and, through a feedback loop with traditional press, generates a significant amount of attention across a broad audience,including people who are not Twitter users.
• The Storm in a Teacup: A story that generates a comparatively small amount of interest on Twitter, but is picked up by a large number of mainstream media outlets. (This usually happens when the mainstream media attempts to anticipate online trends before they actually occur.)
• The Twitter-Only Storm: A story that sparks a significant volume of messages on Twitter, but is only of interest to a specific group and is not picked up by mainstream media.

Image for TWITTER STORM

When I write TWITTER STORM, I mean this:

TWITTER STORMs are not always provoked by bad news.

Summary of Key Points

We have summarized the key points in the table below:

TWITTER STORM
Definition:	A Super-Hot Trending Topic On Twitter
Type:	Slang Word (Jargon)
Guessability:	2: Quite easy to guess
Typical Users:	Adults and Teenagers

Examples of TWITTER STORM in Sentences

Here's an example of TWITTER STORM in conversation:

• Charlie: Have you seen the TWITTER STORM about the Oscars?
• Jordan: What happened?
• Charlie: La La Land was announced as Best Picture, but the winner was actually Moonlight.

An Academic Look at TWITTER STORM

TWITTER STORM is a compound noun, i.e., a noun comprising at least two words. (Sometimes, compound nouns are hyphenated.)

Here are some more examples of compound nouns:

• Mother-in-law
• Board of Members
• Court-martial
• Forget-me-not
• Manservant

For more information about compound nouns, check out Grammar Monster.

What Did We Say before Texting and Social Media?

Before the digital era, "Super-Hot Trending Topics On Twitter" didn't exist.

Example of TWITTER STORM Used in a Text

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