To understand the growth of social media one first has to realise from where it came. Around the middle of the 1990s internet service providers gave millions of home computer users the chance to explore the internet. Technology has since progressed so that it is possible to pick up emails or update one's social media status on a mobile telephone or tablet computer that fits neatly into a bag.By the time Twitter emerged as a 140-character microblogging service in 2006, most home users were familiar with the 'netiquette' of social media behaviour, whether sharing photos with friends and family or sharing opinions with like-minded peers. Twitter now boasts more than 200 million users.

Siok soon realised that the story wasn't in the microblogging site itself, but more in the relationships between the people using the social media platform. The documentary would avoid delving into technological issues and concentrate instead on narratives. Siok would need to convince Twitter users to step out from behind their avatars and share their real-life experiences. Siok set up the Twittamentary website in August 2009 and asked users to contribute story ideas and videos. The initial reaction to the project suggested such crowdsourcing would not be a problem.

News breaking through Twitter has in part led to a reassessment of the traditional news media's role as the gatekeeper of information. To some extent, editors were able to set the news agenda with the stories they covered. Although they can still choose their stories, newsrooms must now be ready not just to break a news story, they must also monitor it online in real time. News providers are using the immediacy of Twitter by curating, as Carvin did, prominent Twitter voices to build up a picture of events as they happen. The resulting story is then digested by heavyweight analysts or columnists.

is currently seeking more film festival premieres and other screening opportunities, if you are interested in hosting a screening for the film, please get in touch with the filmmaker on Twitter