Twitter and Microblogging Bring Beneficial Effects to Social Well-Being
Cars, boats, athletics, academics - people have a need for speed. For centuries, people have been obsessed with doing more with less time. This desire for speed has now transitioned into the technological frontier of communication. Previously, it has been email and instant messaging. But now a new player has floated ashore. People everywhere wish to message all their friends instantly without adding each one of them to an individual text? Well, for those hiding from online social networking developments for the past two years, please meet the world of microblogging. Many are familiar with the term web log or blog, an online journal of sorts that people use to publish usually paragraphs at a time. Micro-blogging is a subset of blogging. Essentially, micro-blogging is to blogging as mini-golfing is to golfing. Recently, a service at Twitter.com has cut through the fluff and simplified to the game. Twitter forces the online society to be brief with their social updates. What exactly was Twitter's breakthrough innovation that leads to its popularity? To answer in 140 characters or less, Twitter allows users to update their status (a Tweet) in no more than 140 characters. This allows the service to send an update via text message to all of the friends who have chosen to "follow" them on Twitter. How is this beneficial? Simple, Twitter's form of microblogging is rapidly revolutionizing social interactions today. Surprising to some, many experts have landed on the opinion that this is beneficial to both society and human well-being. Twitter has managed to touch nearly every aspect of American and European culture. Geeks, celebrities, gamers, politicians, educators, and even businesses have adopted this "Twitterific" thinking. Twitter prompts users with the landmark question, "What are you doing?" This question is meant to spark the combustion of human expression. Though the drive is littered with sharp curves, it appears that humans generally love the thrill. The incessant barrage of information about your friends' living habits may not necessarily be the highlight of your day, but it just may be! Regardless, it is time to discover and embrace the positive public effects Twitter adds to social well-being. Twitter brings many new dishes to the social table and seasons them with spices that produce delicious connections among all types of social circles.
A Personal Twitter Touch.
By narrowing for a moment and focusing on the individual, one can see how methods of communication are changing. Many people no longer view their daily activities as completely private. At the same time, many are still concerned with issues of safety in regards to privacy. This is where Twitter swoops in like Superman and saves the day. Twitter offers its users a plethora of account settings that give users complete control over who gets to follow their Tweets. For instance, a user can elect to "protect" their Tweets so they will not be displayed in the public timeline (a publicly viewable, dynamic list of current Tweeting). This limits a user's Tweet audience to friends who are "following" them on Twitter. And, since users have the power to block or deny friend requests, now anything goes in the Tweet world. Tweeting about sitting in Starbucks drinking a Venti Peppermint Mocha Twist is no longer a threat to privacy. Twitter puts power in the hands of the users. No longer must people live in an isolated, underwater cave to protect their identity. People are naturally social creatures and dislike working alone. The need for acceptance into a community and for social interaction is significant. Frank Washkuch of PR Week quotes Twitter's founder, Biz Stone, "Being connected in real time is a huge advantage" (Washkuch). This seems to be a commonplace among experts in the field. According to Sam Diaz of the Washington Post, Twitter is simply a new method of writing. He calls it a "medium of communication" (Diaz). Diaz's point is that microblogging services like Twitter allow the user to streamline communication that would previously take many hours. This streamlining allows time for more social interaction. Jefferson Graham of USA Today indirectly summarizes this kind of activity. He calls it a "hypergrapevine news resource... instant messaging your circle of friends about your interests or [situations]" (Graham). Graham goes on to say that people no longer have the need for intensively private communication. Rather, people seem to be overtly comfortable with publicly viewable conversations as evidenced by other social networking sites. These same themes are seen in just about every article written on Twitter. Tom Regan writes for the Christian Science Monitor. He says "[Communication] across different platforms? generates ideas? before they pop up in the news" (Regan). Newsweek's Steven Levy describes this phenomenon as a "stream of telegrams" (Levy). Additionally, Hartley addresses one more common debate regarding Twitter. Quoting Stone, "We like to think that constraint creates creativity, simplicity is significant... craftsmanship builds character" (Hartley). Every sentence in this paper is a Tweet. This was done intentionally to illustrate the power inherent to the Tweet of 140 characters. Constrained writing is not a limitation to communication. Rather, it is an opportunity for explosive creativity within the synapses of the imagination! One has to be rather resourceful and employ the use of extensive synonyms in order to convey a meaningful thought in 140 characters or less!
Twitter ? Bolstering Business.
What could possibly be useful about Twitter in the business realm? Ever heard of a stream of consciousness? This is the idea of a continuous thought flow from one's conscious mind. It is a powerful tool for marketing researchers who want to find what it is that interests consumers. No longer do companies need market research firms to understand the audience at the end of an advertising campaign. Now companies use Twitter for the "fastest, most honest research any company [knows] ? the good, bad and ugly... [free]" (Graham). The world is quickly becoming a global marketplace. The world is quickly becoming a global marketplace; people are instantly connected as never before. "Twitter is about keeping in touch and making the world smaller," according to Hartley's interview with Dorsey, a Twitter co-founder. It would make sense then that businesses wanting to stay in touch with clients would flock to Tweet amidst their consumers. Regan of the Christian Science Monitor investigated the mind of Canadian blogger and "social-networking pioneer," Rob Patterson. Patterson dreams of newsrooms aggregating real time, eye witness reports from users within the broadcast area of a station. But, the novelties of Twitter do not end there. Hartley emphasizes the API upon which Twitter is founded. People are able to develop fun, "innovative ways of interacting with the platform... [this] engender[s] a developer community" (Hartley). And, community is the heartbeat of Twitter. But, Hartley is not alone in this position. Sam Diaz is yet another proponent of the social benefits of developing Twitter applications, specifically for iPhone. The world of excitement over such an open infrastructure for development literally has "life in little chirps" (Diaz). An open infrastructure encourages entrepreneurship. This births new jobs and stimulates collaboration among the developers. Twitter is most definitely a useful professional tool and should be implemented on the corporate level.
Emerging Education and Prolific Politics.
Both politicians and educators have found ways to integrate Twitter into their respective fields. According to Matt Hartley, Twitter has become a key organizational tool used by politicians in their campaigning for the upcoming elections. President Elect, Barack Obama, had engendered a following greater than 33,000 during the middle stages of his campaign. Obama's "online efforts and willingness to embrace new modes of communication were instrumental to his successful campaign" (Hartley). Being willing to learn and utilize new technologies gave Obama a jumpstart in his campaign. Diaz even points out the eagerness of John Edwards and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for jumping onto the "Tweetwagon" (Diaz). More of the general public ought to embrace this type of mindset. As for educators, David Parry, professor of Emerging Media and Communications at the University of Texas at Dallas, has positive news. Jeffrey R. Young of the Chronicle of Higher Education was able to wring a few thoughts from Parry. He believes "immediacy [creates] community" and alters classroom dynamics more than any other teaching method (Young). Young is able to share course-prevalent information, from the real world, in real time, with real students. Essentially, professors can now lend a helping hand to students without ever having to leave the dinner table thanks to this short communication. This should increase the acceptance and popularity of Twitter within academic settings.
Securing Self Safety
Another important component of Twitter that must not be overlooked is the personal safety of the people, especially travelers or students. National security is on the forefront of travelers' minds. However, the government can only go so far to ensure personal security. Sometimes the traveler must take the initiative and be vigilant when it comes to security. A recent story of the kind traditionally found exclusively in fairy tales was picked up by The Globe and Mail. The story is the case of a student who was arrested in Egypt but managed to send out a distress Tweet! Thankfully, the man was able to get his release thanks to his connections via Twitter followers (Hartley). Another area of security concern is university campuses. Catherine Rampell writes for the Chronicle of Higher Education as well and denotes the amazing results of Tweeting through a campus lockdown. The story is epic. Jim Groom, specialist from the Univ. of Mary Washington, attended a conference at the Univ. of Richmond concurrently with a gunman. Through simplistic and instantaneous communication via Twitter, those in the lockdown received photos and information about the situation. While other systems were failing, Twitter provided a niche service adaptable to unique situations. Twitter serves as an excellent emergency alert system (Rampell). Effectively, Twitter is good at unobtrusive, mass communication. Twitter is valuable for interactions outside the classroom and for protecting community campuses inside the classroom. There is no doubt; Twitter twinkles bright on planet security.
Tut Tut - 'Tis Time to Tweet!
Though it resides on the bleeding edge of innovation, reports are clear that Twitter facilitates a healthy push towards social well-being. Whether mundane lives, skanky politics, blustering business, or energetic education, Twitter spans the entire gamut of social possibilities. Experts agree that a Tweeting culture promotes a positively connected and informed, societal community. Some may argue that Twitter does nothing more than other social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace. But, that is exactly the goal of Twitter - accomplish more by doing less! Behemoth sites like Facebook are inundated with a deluge of applications that are distracting and detract from productivity. In fact, most corporate workplaces either block or prohibit MySpace and Facebook. Twitter on the other hand is a quick, streamlined interface of communication. It gives the fluff the toss and focuses on fast interactions across multiple devices. Twitter is unique in that it is just as useful in a text message as it is in a desktop client. Functionality is never traded for mobility. Being connected to Twitter via Mile High Wi-Fi on a Virgin Atlantic flight is just as useful as a cellular Blackberry on the ground. Thus, Twitter is ideal for friends who are always busy or studying or co-workers who are always in meetings or travelling. In a sense, Twitter is an AIM away status message on steroids. It works from anywhere, on any devices, at any time, regardless of the recipient's online connectivity at that precise moment. Twitter is a beautiful creation. It connects people, saves time, and stimulates creativity. The appropriate question now shifts from Twitter-coined "What are you doing?" to the more pressing "Why are you not yet Tweeting?"
Works Cited
Diaz, Sam. "Life, in Little Chirps; Introducing Twitter, a Web Experiment In the Mass Appeal of Mundane Details." The Washington Post 9 June 2007, Suburban Edition: FID01. LexisNexis Academic. 6 Oct. 2008 <http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T4750453161&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T4750453164&cisb=22_T4750453163&treeMax>.
Graham, Jefferson. "Twitter took off from simple to 'tweet' success; Surprisingly hot social-network service keeps pals in touch and puts companies on their toes." USA TODAY [SAN FRANCISCO] 21 July 2008, FIRST EDITION: MO7A. LexisNexis Academic. 6 Oct. 2008 <http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T4738555479&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T4738555482&cisb=22_T4738555481&treeMax>.
Hartley, Matt. "BEFORE WE BUILT THE PROTOTYPE FOR TWITTER, PEOPLE DIDN'T SEEM THAT INTERESTED IN IT. IT WAS A REAL SHOCK WHEN PEOPLE GRAVITATED TOWARD IT VERY QUICKLY." The Globe and Mail (Canada) 23 July 2008: TQ36. LexisNexis Academic. 6 Oct. 2008 <http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T4738555479&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T4738555482&cisb=22_T4738555481&treeMax>.
Levy, Steven. "Twitter: Is Brevity The Next Big Thing?" Newsweek 9 Apr. 2007: 26. LexisNexis Academic. 6 Oct. 2008 <http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T4738555479&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T4738555482&cisb=22_T4738555481&treeMax>.
Rampell, Catherine. "Twittering Through a Campus Lockdown." The Chronicle of Higher Education. 30 May 2008. http://chronicle.com. 19 Oct. 2008 <http://chronicle.com/free/v54/i38/38a01302.htm>.
Regan, Tom. "Twitter: How news and politics plays on a popular social networking service." Christian Science Monitor 13 Feb. 2008: FE15. LexisNexis Academic. 6 Oct. 2008 <http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T4738555479&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T4738555482&cisb=22_T4738555481&treeMax>.
Washkuch, Frank. "Relief groups turn to Twitter amid crises." PR Week (US) 26 May 2008: 8. LexisNexis Academic. 6 Oct. 2008 <http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T4738555479&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T4738555482&cisb=22_T4738555481&treeMax>.
Young, Jeffrey. "A Professor's Tips for Using Twitter in the Classroom." The Chronicle of Higher Education. 28 Jan. 2008. http://Chronicle.com/. 19 Oct. 2008 <http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/2699/a-professors-tips-for-using-twitter-in-the-classroom>.
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