Twitter

Top Ten Tweeters....

Name	Number of Followers	Number Following	Number ofTweets
Katy Perry	47,515,699	127	5,240
Justin Bieber	47,161,094	121,255	24,556
Lady Gaga	40,629,348	135,104	3,887
Barack Obama	40,011,141	655,892	10,388
Taylor Swift	36,917,755	119	2,005
YouTube	36,466,539	538	9,212
Britney Spears	34,228,689	405,967	2,963
Rihanna	32,767,255	985	8,695
Instagram	29,163,423	18	4,435
Justin Timberlake	28,540,816	59	1,986

(Forbes, 2013) (Twitter, 2013)

 (Smith, 2013)

 Tweeters..... 

Twitter is used by celebrities, companies and politicians as a marketing tool to promote their image. Twitter allows them to send a quick 140 character message out to their followers to keep interest high and promote their products, celebrity status or political views. Millions of other people are Twitter users as well, they Tweet about their lives, reply and re-tweet messages. These people are also followers of others and have followers themselves. This intern builds their virtual community and therefore their networks. This is what makes Twitter a valuable tool – you can potentially communicate with millions of people in a matter of seconds. No wonder buying followers is big business!!

Theories....

Rheingold would view Twitter as a tool to use in his virtual community in between being immersed in the ‘WELL’ (World Earth Lectronic Link). Click here to view the ‘WELL’ http://www.well.com/

Rheingold believes more people need to know about the leverage and potential of virtual communities, Twitter is a small segment that allows communication in a virtual community. Interesting as Rheingold predicts those with power and money will control the new virtual communities and media (Rheingold, n.d.), as they have done in the past. This is certainly true for Twitter where people and companies actually buy followers, therefore boosting their status and increasing their community.

According to Jenkins the technology we have such as; mobile devices, social media and other technologies are used as platforms to get our message or story across to other people (Jenkins, 2009). Twitter is part of this platform and as you can see by the Top Ten Twitter uses Barack Obama is number 4. Jenkins also uses Obama as an example in his clip on New Media Landscapes. Click here to view the clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibJaqXVaOaI

 

 (Semiocast, 2012)

Crisis Management....

Twitter is a valuable tool in times of crisis and can be used to alert a community of impending disaster, giving them instructions as the crisis progresses. The United Kingdom has implemented a Twitter news alert service that emergency services can use to alert people when a crisis is in progress. While this is a great idea, there are some problems to iron out such as people posting false messages causing greater panic. The emergency services are using an ‘orange bell’ alert that they are hoping will reduce false messages (Prigg, 2013).

Future....

Twitter will live on in the future, until new innovative medium is launched. It will still be used by dedicated Twitters, but will fade into the background just as MySpace was replaced with Facebook.

Reflection....

Personally I am not a tweeter. Are you? Would you pay for followers if you had a company?

Until next week

Happy Tweeting

Cheers

Sheridan

References

 Forbes, 2013. Top 10 Celebrity Tweeters. [Online] 

Available at: http://www.forbes.com/pictures/lmj45fgfk/lady-gaga-8/
[Accessed 19 November 2013].

Jenkins, H., 2009. The New Media Landscape, s.l.: HCD Media Group.

Prigg, M., 2013. Mail Online. [Online]
Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2509305/Twitter-launches-UK-news-alert-service-tweet-information-times-crisis.html
[Accessed 4 December 2013].

Rheingold, H., n.d. Introduction. In: The Virtual Community. s.l.:Electronic Version.

Semiocast, 2012. Twitter- How much spam is on Twitter. [Online]
Available at: http://leaderswest.com/2012/08/20/twitter-how-prevalent-their-spam-epidemic-may-be/
[Accessed 4 December 2013].

Smith, B., 2013. Twitter Followers/Project TGM. [Online]
Available at: http://projecttgm.com/2013/04/3-reasons-i-may-or-may-not-follow-you-on-twitter/twitter-followers/#lightbox/0/
[Accessed 5 December 2013].

Twitter, 2013. Twitter Counter. [Online]
Available at: http://twittercounter.com/pages/100
[Accessed 18 November 2013].

How do you interact with social media?

Devices....

The vast majority of people in the western world carry at least one mobile devise, be it a mobile phone, laptop, Ipad or tablet, some people have more than one device with them at all times.

Sure these devices give us opportunity to be connected at all times with a wide and diverse range of people from around the globe, but is it inhibiting our enjoyment of ‘real’ experiences?  The study conducted by Przybylski & Weinstein indicates that the presence of a mobile phone reduced empathy, closeness, trust and understanding. The debriefing of the participants revealed that they were unaware that these effects were occuring (Przybylski & Weinstein, 2013).

Cyborgs....

It could be argued that we are becoming Cyborgs as suggested by Donna Haraway’s theory, not in the literal sense, but mobile devices are becoming part of who we are. Amber Case in her studies on Cyborg Anthropothogy indicates that the internet can be viewed as an organic structure and that it compliments us as human beings, therefore we are connected to the technology. The concern is that as everything is instantaneous people will be busy dealing with all the messages and media received on the devices that they will fail to reflect on who they actually are both in the ‘real world’ and in ‘cyber space’ (Case, 2010).  

Anonymous....

Mobile devices allow certain anonymity, so people tend to ‘post’ or ‘text’ words and images they would not usually say to a person’s face or display publicly in their home. Social media makes these instant and non-retractable and allows many people to view the messages, not just the intended recipient.  People can unintentionally become a ‘Cyber-bully’ by not considering the information they post. According to world-wide research cyber-bullies are more likely to be girls who found it easier to be themselves online, they also engage in risky online actions and spent more time online (Gorzig & Olafsson, 2013).                   

 Future....

 Chris Wild predicts the future of mobile device    will possible evolve into a model similar to HAL  in 2001 a film by Kubrick. This device  interacted naturally with humans, understood  language and could devise the best way to  communicate information to people (Close-Up  Media Inc, 2012).

Reflection....

Personally I carry a mobile phone with me all the time, but I am not a constant user and I adhere to mobile etiquette.

What kind of social media user are you? Do you use mobile etiquette? Do you think mobile device etiquette should be taught in school, especially if we are theoretically heading down the ‘Cyborg’ road? Are you a different person in the world of cyber space?

Reference List

Case, A., 2010. Amber Case: We are all Cyborgs now. [Online]
Available at: http://www.ted.com/talks/amber_case_we_are_all_cyborgs_now.html
[Accessed 24 November 2013].

Close-Up Media Inc, 2012. World Symposium 2012 to Take a Look at the Future of Mobile Devices. Entertainment Close-Up, 9 April.

Gorzig, A. & Olafsson, K., 2013. What Makes a Bully a Cyberbully? Unravelling the Characteristics of Cyberbullies across Twenty-Five European Countries. Journal of Children and Media, 7(1), pp. Special Issue: Children, Internet and Risk Comparative Perspective.

Przybylski, A. K. & Weinstein, N., 2013. Can you connect with me now? How the presence of mobile communication technology influences face-to-face conversation quality. Journal of Social Relationships, 30(3), pp. 237-246.

Purevpn, n.d. Purevpn.com. [Online]
Available at: http://www.purevpn.com/blog/vpn-anonymous/
[Accessed 30 November 2013].

Read, J., 2008. [Online]
Available at: http://www.unwir3d.com/88785/become-cyborg-step-1-digital-tattoo-interface
[Accessed 30 November 2013].

Test Blog

There are many reasons why people blog. My Top 10 are:

1. To Express Your Thoughts and Opinions

2. To Market or Promote Something

3. To Help People

4. To Establish Yourself as an Expert

5. To Connect with People Like You

6. To Make a Difference

7. To Stay Active or Knowledgeable in a Field or Topic

8. To Stay Connected with Friends and Family

9. To Make Money

10. To Have Fun and Be Creative

All of these reasons connect people with society and each other. In a world where we are surrounded by abundance and opportunity, there are many that are struggling and lonely. Blogs allow people to interact without leaving there homes, so they feel secure and can see another reality. While not a lot of people get rich from blogging it can be a supplement to their income, but I believe most people blog for the connectivity rather than for monetary gains.

Businesses also have departments that blog for them to interact with and keep customers informed about what is happening in their business and how this can benefit customers. Many businesses use social media to increase their databases and connect with more potential customers.

So many reasons to blog....best wishes until next time

Happy Blogging

Sheridan