Is it just for TWITT'S?

Is Twitter simply just another avenue to inform the world of pointless information and facilitate self-presentation, ego boosts or self deflation?  Or does it have a greater purpose...     

Whatever its purpose, Twitter and its co-founder Jack Dorsey has experienced phenomenal growth since its onset in 2006.  It now boasts 231.7 MILLION active users, who reportedly tweet "more than 5K tweets each and every second"(socialmediatoday 2013).

The beginning.....
At first no one took much notice, until 2008 when terrorists hit 2 hotels in Mumbai where 140 character updates referred to as 'tweets' started flooding the world giving live updates; way ahead of any news reports.  Traditional media feeds were shut down by the terrorists, yet the world was informed & connected. 

This piece of information changed my perspective about this latest 'fad' known as Twitter, which I viewed as, wait for it.....'another time wasting, meaningless barrage of junk fuelled by celebrities and others with too much time!' 

Twitter has been used as a "advance alert system"; a means of communication for serious events and crisis.  Take for example the Hudson River plane crash/landing & the 2011 Japanese tsunami, 'tweets' were the first means of contact in these crisis.  Outsiders were being informed and able to respond quicker plus those involved could feel a sense of connectivity & hope (Cross 2011, p.59). 
 

Twitter has also been employed for political purposes. Barack Obama in his 2008 election set up a Twitter account which helped him provide a service (Cross 2011, p.65).  This revolution of constant sharing helped him form ties, create new connections & provide the public with a sense of democratic involvement that they had not experienced previously. Not to mention the opportunities for businesses - FREE marketing & advertising, consumer interaction & feedback & a mode to measure the current market (smart company 2013).
                                      "Twitter is an enormous popularity contest.  The more followers you have, the more status in the Twitter world" Grigoriadis (cited in Cross 2011, p.52).  To me, this is the downfall!  Twitter is sending a message that identity & self-worth is accumulated through popularity. This deters individualism and creativity, whilst feeding self-presentation, taunting and superficial labelling.  Twitter has presented another level of consumerism such as 'paid fake followers' & 'twitter feuds', empowering a performance culture, where we make up a desired 'packaged self'.  This package has been suggested to "erode the very relationships it purports to create" (Cross 2011, p.63).
                                                                                                                 TWITTER facts & figures....

• In 2009 Twitter acquired a spot in Collins English Dictionary
• Twitter had more than a 200% increase in 2010
• The first tweet from SPACE was in 2010
• In 2011 Japan set a new record: almost 7000 tweets per second
• Twitter supports 17 different languages
• 2011 reports that Twitter's worth is an estimated $7 billion (increase from $3.7 billion in 2010)
• US President Barack Obama hosted a world first 'Twitter Town Hall' in 2011
• Estimated to have generated $139.5 Million in ad sales in 2011
• Largest Twitter reaction (tweets-per-second) was 12,233 at a Super Bowl game
• 93.6% of users have fewer than 100 followers & 21% have never posted a tweet...
• A 1/4 of all tweets are computer generated - by 'bots'
• Twitterati is referred to as "the people, corporations, and small businesses that have found it a simple way to get their message out"
• 75% of tweets are done by 5% of users

Howard Rheingold believes that the digital era encourages co-ordination of 'collective action' and he argues that this is one of the most important things that technology has provided. Rheingold asserts that 'virtual communities' encourage increased levels of equality and democracy (Ankeny 2002, p.18).  Giving individuals a 'voice' through easy, quick and FREE mediums is a way to eliminate cultural, political and social differences and at the same time keeping the public sphere afloat. Rheingold (n.d) claims that "democracy is not just about voting, it's about citizens talking with each other about the issues which concern them".  You can't really dispute that Twitter is a prime tool for this.... 

 

Scholar Henry Jenkins theory of 'participatory culture'  emphasizes similar views, suggesting that online media participation challenges media industries and the power they hold, whilst creating more diversity in the public sphere (Jenkins 2009). This new participatory media culture allows individuals freedom of expression and a global audience!
"Any virtual community that works, works because people put in some time"  ...Howard Rheingold

I've decided it's time for me to drop my old school mindset and 'put some time' into this new participatory online culture.  I continually say "...I don't have time to waste on these socialising sites", yet my research indicates that they are more than merely socialising sites; they create virtual communities that allow me to have a 'voice'.  To share my thoughts & creativity and yes this may involve a bit of 'pointless information', but that's ok.  I've realised I can control how I want to 'use' social media. 

References

Acohido, B., 2009. Iranian activists use Twitter, proxy servers to deliver news from the streets, viewed 28 November 2013, http://lastwatchdog.com/iranian-activists-twitter-proxy-servers-deliver-news/

Ankeny, J., 2002. Wireless Review, Howard Rheingold, 19(11), p. 18.

Anon., 2013. 30+ of the Most Amazing Twitter Statistics, viewed 2 December 2013,
http://socialmediatoday.com/irfan-ahmad/1854311/twitter-statistics-IPO-infographic

Anon., 2013. How Twitter will change your business, viewed 27 November 2013,
http://www.smartcompany.com.au/growth/economy/6751-how-twitter-will-change-your-business.html

Cross, M., 2011. Twitter World. In: Bloggerati, Twitterati: How Blogs and Twitter Are Transforming Popular Culture, Greenwood Publishing group, EBL Ebook Library, pp. 51 - 65.

Hernandez, B. A., 2012. Twitter Rewind: Big Highlights From 2012 to 2006, viewed 24 November 2013,http://mashable.com/2012/03/21/history-of-twitter-timeline/
 

Jenkins, H., 2009. The new media landscape, 21 September 2009, viewed 22 November 2013,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibJaqXVaOaI

Rheingold, H., 2008. Howard Rheingold: Way-new collaboration, 12 February 2008,  viewed 22 November 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5s3Z0iesRM

Rheingold, H., n.d. Life On the Electronic Frontier: An Interview with Howard Rheingold [Interview], viewed 1 December 2013, http://www.scottlondon.com/interviews/rheingold.html

 

 
 

 

What are we sacrificing for connection...

I am on a long awaited 'date night' with my partner.  Ridiculously long working hours, study & constant information overload keep us from focusing plain attention on each other, so I'm savouring this moment!   Then it happens...a subtle yet distinctive 'ding'.....do I retreat into my all too familiar mobile world or do I resist? What if it's a problem at work, an emergency or a friend needing advice?  Maybe it's that email reply that I've been waiting on or that text back confirming my beauty appointment, perhaps it's a social invite or a notification from FB, twitter, Instagram or ebay?  If I just look at it now I would know. Have you had this dilemma?  Could you go without your mobile for a night, or a whole day......

                                             ....Have you suffered from 'disconnect anxiety'?

A 2012 survey showed that 76% of respondents owned a smartphone, whilst 4 out of 5 users are accessing information online, performing searches, visiting websites, purchasing, banking & interacting "many times a day" (Digital Business 2013).

 

Mobile devices allow for us to CONTROL... to control where we put our attention, how we self-present, how much time we want to allocate to something or someone, when & through what means we communicate.  However, the trap with this social control; real emotion, real feelings, real conversations with imperfections and vulnerability and the capacity to self reflect with oneself disintegrates (Turkle 2012). 

 

"...we don't feel ourselves, so we connect more, setting ourselves up for greater isolation"(Turkle 2012).  We are becoming 'disconnected' from ourselves, whilst thinking we are 'connecting'  more with others. Mobile devices promote quick, surface contact with MANY instead of deep & meaningful attachments...we are "short changed out of real conversation" (Turkle 2012).  Mobile devices are encouraging us to remove ourselves from the physical world and move into a hyper-reality world that we often think meets our needs better (Turkle 2012)

 
Food for MOBILE thought... scholar opinions on mobile devices....
 

*..."encourages a social life that is exclusively taking place inside homes" (Geser 2006, p.16).  Is this diminishing the public sphere?   

*...puts all the power of communication on individuals, shifting the dynamics of interaction from a stable, depersonalised and formalised network spread across societies & institutionalised channels to instead a isolated culture of individualism (Geser 2006, p.16).

*...create a "uncensorable world".  Rheingold (1994, p.60)  informs that our kids need to be educated to be capable of creating & sustaining a strong sense of identity; with boundaries physically & socially, as well as teaching that people can present online very different to reality.

*...Enable a more flexible work/life balance?  Mobility allows work to become detached from the physical workspace, allowing more multiplicity (Meerwarth, Gluesing & Jordan, p.79).
 

I've come to the conclusion that in today's society it takes TOO MUCH EFFORT to talk face-to-face; there's a simpler method that technology offers & we are all guilty of taking this easy way out.  I more than often 'SEND' a message to a friend, colleague, brother, work client - because it's EASIER than facing insecurities.  While typing an email, text, blog, post I can hide behind the machines that don't notice my weaknesses and don't judge my hairy eyebrows!  My mobile phone does not sense my social insecurities, doesn't notice me blush or sense that I'm slightly intimidated.  I can constantly convey confidence, self-assurance and permits me to globally 'pause' on my identity if I'm stuck for words or wish to change my appearance.

 

 

Take a squiz at this short youtube clip which sums up this blog..

In reflection, I rely on my phone to communicate with work colleagues, clients, friends & family through text, email & social networking site messages/updates/statuses/photos, to pay bills, take photos & upload simultaneously, play games, download app's, search for directions, recipes, definitions, restaurants, hotels, travel and of course, online shopping!  I have everything I need through my phone right?  Remind me again what I need human interaction for?

 

References

Australian Government Department of Communications, 2013. More Australians more mobile than ever, digital business website, viewed 24 November 2013,
http://www.digitalbusiness.gov.au/2013/01/31/more-australians-more-mobile-than-ever/

Geser, H., 2006. Is the Cell Phone Undermining the Social Order?: Understanding Mobile Technology from a Sociological Perspective. Knowledge, Technology & Policy, 19(1), pp. 8 -18.  

Meerwarth, T. L., Gluesing, J. C. & Jordan, B., 2009. Identity in a virtual world: The coevolution of technology, work, and lifecycle. In: Mobile Work, Mobile Lives. s.l.:Wiley, pp. 70 - 88.

Rheingold, H. & Ebbs, G., 1994. Censorship on the information highway. Electronic Networking
Applications and Policy, 7(1), pp. 59- 60.

Turkle, S., 2012. Connected, but alone? TED talks, viewed 20 November,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7Xr3AsBEK4