The purpose of the research is to explain how Twitter supports real-time information exchange in popular domains, and examine the influence of source, message, and recipient characteristics on information exchange. University students were surveyed using a structured questionnaire. A model was developed and statistically tested to examine the influence of characteristics on information exchange via Twitter. Different characteristics were demonstrated to be significant predictors of information exchange. For source characteristics, authoritative knowledge, social connections, and attractiveness have a positive influence, while for recipient characteristics, prior knowledge, community engagement, and demographics influence information exchange. For message characteristics, information usefulness and information quality are effective. Overall, influences vary based on the domain. The results help Twitter operators and users to understand the most important source, message, and recipient characteristics for information exchange. This study informs sources about the characteristics that make tweets more informative, and more likely to be exchanged by recipients. It assists Twitter operators to understand what characteristics are important in future system designs.