I just finished reading the "Tweet this" article and something pop up. The article argues that audiences/users uses Twitter because they want to gratify a need to connect with others. The indicators of such gratification to connect are the time spent on Twitter and the users' frequency of tweeting and sending @replies.
Now that I think back on the way that I use Twitter; I found something that I can related to (and interesting), I would hit that "retweet" without hesitation. I do this simply because I believe my followers (mostly my friends) would be interested in the same topic as well. Sometimes, this generated a starting point of a conversation between my followers, either online or offline. Another aspect of this is the "Follow". I only follow those who I think can provide relevant information, which ultimately feeds me with interesting topics without me actively look for them.
One of the video made a good point, 140 characters is short enough that does not disrupt anyone, and groups of these 140 character tweets paint a picture of people's lives; I think I like to use Twitter because of that. It also seems like everything happens in "real-time" for Twitter. 140 characters may not cover the whole story at once. However, if a topic is interesting enough, I'm more likely to check back later for updates.
Phew...that was lengthy and I hope it make sense :)
Hi all I nervously laughed at the "Tweet This" article - I've often felt proud of myself if a follower retweets me...even though we see 'retweet is not an endorsement' on many profiles!! Retweets can sometimes feel like an unspoken message - as if someone agrees, without actually saying the words. Reactions, replies and retweets suggests 'someone is listening' so there is a feeling of being connected and the motivation to tweet on!
One other thought: The various scales of how people use Twitter - I'm sharing information intended for two or three friends - like a link to a recipe or a photo of a nice pair of shoes. Obama is encouraging millions of strangers to donate to his political campaign and arriving at a total of $55m!
Ah Fiona, I think we've all shared those nervous-laugh moments! Especially with new technologies/modes/platforms. :) I think you're right, the RT is a bit like silence is acceptance. It implies an agreement, even if the profile notes no endorsememnt; then why RT?
Remember too, that even if you intend your tweets to be read by only three people, they are public and anyone and everyone can see them (if they wish). :) I'll be looking for those recipes....
Thankfully my recipe tweets are not controversial enough to be monitored by the Authorities, like the London riots as described in Kuta in "Exploring the Pros and Cons of Twitter in Real-Time Events" - a good example of users connecting with each other, but also being monitored by law enforcement!
The common theme in much of the course material I have read so far, as well as the thoughts from fellow classmates is 'connection'.
The Common Craft video highlights how the user can stay up to date with friends and family world wide by following them on Twitter. Its interesting that feeling of connection is there regardless of time zone or face to face interaction.
I have enjoyed the class reading and videos in Module One. I especially found interesting the paper “Tweet This” and the theory it presents that active Twitter use satisfies a need for human connections. I can understand that for quite a number of people this appears to be the case, especially when you see the stats of the number of people who are using Twitter and Twitter’s increasing popularity as a social media platform.
I was first introduced to Twitter by my friend Diana Herrington, who is a very active Twitter user with over 22,000 followers. Diana has talked to me on numerous occasions on how effective Twitter is at making social connections. She has not only made many online connections through Twitter, but many of these have also turned into personal connections with people all over the world.
For me, I have found that Twitter is a great way to send short bits of news and to keep up on currents trends and events in fields that interest me. I have yet to experience what I would deem to be a human connection here in the same manner that I do with Facebook. As such, I would say I use Twitter sporadically. Through Facebook, I have not only connected with friends and family on a personal level, but I have also made new friends (some of which have developed into personal connections offline). I even belong to a few communities of really interesting people who share my love of movies and like to share that passion online.
I did like that the paper discussed that people need to discover the social media platform that best resonates for them personally. I would agree with that statement.
In relation to Twitter, I am very open to learning more about Twitter through this course and, in particular, how to more effectively make those human connections, as well as create more powerful content here.
BTW—I also enjoyed the editing on the videos, in particular, “Did You Know 4.0.” Very interesting stats as well.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Terry. Your friend Diana obviously knows exactly how to harness Twitter and is enjoying making the connections. I too have made online connections which have turning into RL interactions. It's all about employing a suite of tools for your own specific goal.
Let's see what you think of Twitter as your use evolves during the course.
I have really enjoyed learning from and participating in Module One of this course for many reasons. From a curriculum perspective - the first online course for me (and inaugural blog) - I liked the variety of content: a combination of research literature, videos and practical application, created a solid platform from which to launch.
Chen's article identifies the use of Twitter as a means to gratify our need to connect with others. The individual "receives gratification only or mainly from being involved in the process of communication behaviour, rather than from message content" (Cutler & Danowski, 1980, p.270). I am not sure if I agree with the later - as some of my classmates have also indicated - many people are seeking to make connections via Twitter through content that is meaningful to yourself and perhaps others.
I am also trying to decide what my views are regarding the gap that is created between the online and offline worlds of communication. For example, you might have an online discussion for x amount of time, then 'walk away', because ie. you need to have lunch etc., and resuming particular conversations at a later date often lose momentum or perhaps other events have occurred that result in not resuming discussions at all. Basically, 'life' happens between tweets and Facetime.
Online veins of communication have both enhanced and created new connections and replaced many traditional ones.
...am looking forward to our next learning chapter and meeting everyone, for the second time and offline!, this week.
Louise, thanks for sharing your reactions. I'm glad you enjoyed the variety of content. I'm attempting to include various learning styles - even if most of our course is online.
I'm thinking about your view that life happens between tweets. I'm not sure if I'd agree with that. What if one tweets after the fact - after that fantastic meal or great day out - as a way to *remember* and share that experience? I would agree that tweeting while in the moment probably takes away from the experience though I know there are researchers that disagree and argue that it actually heightens engagment.
I seemed to be combining class assignments right out of the gate. In my learning objectives intro I mentioned the article regarding fostering human connections using Twitter and now I want to back track and elaborate a bit more on my learning objectives. Please bear with me:)
While I am not a communications/marketing professional, elements of these professions are part of my day to day work life. I consult with our communications department about how to promote our programs to reach our target audience and I'm frustrated by the push to use social media over traditional sources of communicating (i.e. print media) ... almost a case of throwing the baby out with the bath water. It's why I signed up for this course, hoping to become acquainted more intimately with these various platforms. Because I have to confess, I love technology and I spend lots of time on the computer in my work life, and if I'm home alone, in my non-work life. But I am a passive consumer of things like Twitter and Facebook. I signed up for Twitter back in 2009, but I didn't really know what to do with it. I follow 'experts' in my areas of personal interest, investing, money management, travel hacking, etc. but have never really interacted with them. And most of my friends weren't on Twitter so I had no reason to retweet.
So the first article about connections, has given me food for thought as why I don't interact with Twitter, as opposed to popping in once in awhile to see what's up. I actually follow Obama, but I didn't donate to his campaign, and I have my suspicions as to whether he writes his own tweets.
The video about how to use Twitter reminded me of why I didn't take to it initially ... I remember hearing on the radio about Ashton Kucher tweeting some really banal things about his day to day living, and I just was NOT interested in knowing this. Neither did I want to share my daily minutiae with others, and TBH, I don't enjoy reading other people's minutiae ... unless they are gifted at writing and then that just becomes something to consume, not interact with.
The video with the stats - I enjoyed watching it. We do live in a visual culture, and I enjoyed how the information was presented. Again, as a self-described immigrant to this new media world, I couldn't help but marvel at the untold numbers of stats that comprised this presentation and that the credits in the last few slides cited web sources and iphotostock.
I have run across generational marketing in my work and would really like to know how generations respond to new media or how they interact with it. But then I have to remind myself, as someone has already mentioned, Facebook and Twitter have been in place for less than 10 years. Will it be around in another 10 years?
It's been awhile since I've dipped my toes into the pool of academia ... and already all I have are questions and observations and musings! Great start to the course, thanks for the food for thought.
Larissa aka Tango Lara
PS My first twitter handle was Manymuse. Follow me if you want retweets from the Wealthy Barber, David Chilton. He is as funny online as he is in person!
I also enjoyed the variety of content between videos, practical tips and a research paper. The latter was interesting to me, as for some reason I have not become active on Twitter even though I joined it years ago. I don’t have anything against Twitter – I use it for work and try to learn more about it.
I remember reading somewhere that only about 30% of registered Twitter users are active. Are there any studies that would explain what types of people actively use Twitter?
Similar to my classmates, I enjoyed this week’s reading. The videos provided snappy, eyebrow-raising (to me, an admitted social media novice) facts that didn't quite shock me but made me sit up and think about just how much social media has changed how we communicate. In particular:
• X Plane Visual Thinking. (2009). Did you know 4.0. Fascinating stats – with the rapid evolving pace of social media it would be interesting to know what the same stats are now (five years on). I also liked how this video was edited, I felt like I couldn’t tear my eyes from the screen or I would miss something!
• Wesch, M. (2007). The Machine is Us/ing Us. This was definitely thought-provoking. There is so much information online at our disposal – I have never stopped to consider what information I am providing by mindlessly searching, key words, or tagging/commenting. The ‘Machine’ is using us, and of course, if the machine is using us for content – I get the argument that ‘we’ are the machine. I find this quite scary too though!
• Commoncraft. (n.d). Twitter in Plain English. I liked this short summary of Twitter. Being a ‘wordy’ person, 140 characters is sometimes no easy task for me. I do see the appeal of short/quick and as Gary says ‘real-time’ insights to one’s life and capturing the moment. Living away from many family and friends, I would value a daily feed of these precious moments.
Finally, Chen’s article was an interesting read. I do agree with the statement that Twitter use gratifies a need to connect with others, but I would not be quick to imply that this is a fact for all Twitter users.
Chen mentions that communication behaviour is goal-orientated. If the Twitter user’s goal is to connect with others, then I agree with Chen that the user is active to gratify a need to connect with others, and Twitter certainly opens up a world of connections that might otherwise not be available.
Certainly, the act of tweeting is Twitter’s code of conversation, and @replies signal people embarking on the conversation. I agree with Fiona, in that retweeting is an act of agreement, or at least, an interest in the thought or subject put forward in the tweet. Why else would a user wish to share it with their followers? Similarly, by tweeting a photo that captures a moment, one is opening their lives to other online Twitter users, and in that, I would think, interested in connecting. In this way, Chen, I believe, it right in his argument that those who spend a lot of time tweeting, replying and creating @replies seek to engage with other users, and get gratification in doing this.
However, a Twitter user may be very active on Twitter, but their communication behaviour may be for a completely different reason – for example to seek information. A user may spend as much time on Twitter as a person who is seeking to connect with others, but their act of following people of interest and retweeting on occasion could merely serve to gratify their need for information. This is obvious in the decline in print newspaper readership – more and more people are getting their daily ‘news fix’ via Twitter! I was glad to see that Chen mentioned this as a limitation in the report.
Nice to meet everyone. My name is Victoria- I am looking forward to our in class dates at the end of this week. Something that popped out for me in one of the videos from this week was 'ethics in social media.' This is all of a concern, challenge, and opportunity for me in my current role, as the my organization has extensive reach to our key audience through social media channels which often places us in the position to decide if we can use a quote or photo posted to any of pages in other areas of our business (such as print materials).
Hi there. I am Laura Leigh. Very, very new to this media. I was under the impression that this was used only as a way to communicate with family, friends and potential contacts but am now starting to see I was wrong. I quess I'll see as we move along.
Hi there! I'm Dawn Carter and I must be one of the last people in the class to post. I've been interested in using communications tools to make connections for quite some time now, and that also ties into my interest in building communities, creating spaces (virtual and physical) for learning, and creating pathways for knowledge sharing. I'm quite interested in social media/web 2.0 in internal communications. Using these tools in an public relations context is something I'm nervous about but I'm also open to learning about the possibilities and challenges in using these tools in reaching to a broader audience. I've been the type of person to encourage group projects and collaborative efforts not only at work but in my creative pursuits as a writer/spoken word artist. So I have a very broad interest in knowledge sharing that crosses many of my interests and I think a good grasp of social media would help me generate some new projects in the future at work and in my private pursuits.
In terms of the assigned readings and videos, I had a couple of ideas come to mind. The first one was "convergence and connection" stated in the X Plane Visual Thinking video and reiterated in the Wesch and Commoncraft videos. Social media tools democratize communication channels and provide multiple points and possibilities of connection. I think that's exciting! Though at the same time - as brought up in another SM class Im taking, that may leave many silent voices out of the equation...that is, those who have SM have the opportunity to be heard but we may be missing out on the perspectives of those who do not have access...but I digress!
Another thing that came to mind was the malleability of digital content. I found the The Machine is Us ing us quite fascinating! I read an article about how text should become multifunctional with active links, but even digital text has its limitations, which the author proved in his article - some of the embedded content he put in just wasnt working in the way he intended. I wish I could remember the name of the article and the exact concept he was trying to describe.
As a final thought, I liked the U&G theory applied to Twitter in Chens article. I think that ties in well with convergence and connection, in that people have a variety of choices in the medium they choose to connect with, and will choose the most conducive mode possible for them to satisfy their need for connection. Though Twitter allows for micro-posts connections can be made outside of e-mail and blogs as the Commoncraft video suggests, which meets the U&G needs for the tweeter and their followers.
Apologies for the spotty grammar; Im getting used to a new laptop and trying not to write in what may seem to be very poor Spanish or French, what with all the accents popping up when I hit the quotes button! Any one have any tips on how to fix that...lol!
My name is Cristian Dumo, I am from the philippines. Actually, during my college years, social media has been the way on connecting to my family, my friends, and also my to professors/advisers. I always acknowledge its power, and I hope within this program I can discover more things about it and what can I do more to it.
Based on the videos,studies, and also on my personal experience, social media is becoming a part of our daily lives(or for most of us). It is the new way of connecting to people that we know and also the people that we want to know or be friends with. It is a new medium in the field of marketing and communications, it is a new place for selling and advertising. This media, is also the 'IT' thing in journalism, it is the new way of gathering news/information and also a new way of disseminating it. In terms of spreading informations, it has wider reach compared to the traditional media. It is also a new venue of entertainment for most us, and the best part of it is IT'S FREE(mostly).
Looking forward on learning more about this media and also on the activities/trivias.
The readings, videos and interactions on-line these past 10 days have reinforced previous ideas and have provided fresh questions for me about social media and what it means to my life and my business. Our world is grappling with the explosion of Internet use and the emergence of social-media communication platforms and their impact on both human interaction and on the way we do business. “The Machine Is Us” explains how this evolution has happened. G.M. Chen is trying to understand some of the whys, while “Did You Know?” explains who, where and what is being impacted. The title of this last piece highlights the fact that these changes are occurring so fast that we have not had the time to really reflect on their impact on every aspect of society, including politics, commerce and our social world.
So, has it all changed just the way we do life, or has it changed life itself? If I were to believe “Twitter in Plain English”, I would have to conclude that life itself has changed. According to the producers of this piece, “real life” happens between “blogs and posts”. Should one conclude then that you have to be posting and blogging to even have a real life? and, that this “life” consists of a series of mundane activities? I had better break the news to my parents, and the dozens of other people I know who have resisted becoming active on social media, as well as the many active Facebook users who are not yet on Twitter.
Personally, I don’t have any interest in becoming like “Carla” or her friends. If she has been following “Stephen” on Facebook and wasn’t aware that he was a baseball fan until Twitter, then I’m not so sure he really was one of the people “that mattered most to her”. Of course, she could have missed that detail because she was “off to sleep” and “running late”. It’s no wonder she ended up in the front row. Everyone knows that if you arrive late you’re most likely sitting in the front. If you were wondering, I did catch the fact that her front row seat was for a Van Halen concert. (If she were a real fan she would have been there early.) Poor Carla aside, my cynical self emerges when I sense I am being given a poorly-executed sales job to convince me to use, buy or participate in something I wasn’t aware I needed.
Ironically, that is why we are all here. To learn how to effectively communicate, effectively get our message across, effectively use platforms and tools that - whether we like it or not, or whether we fully understand them or not - are now part of every day life.
Hi Everyone, In addition to the ethics in social media issue I mentioned above I would like to add the following. As I mentioned in my profile on the moodle I work with Travel Alberta which is the marketing organization for the Province of Alberta (a crown corporation). A part of my current role is designing, implementing, and communicating results of programs that are created to help tourism industry partners reach key consumers. Social media is already playing an important role in many of these marketing programs and as it develops increasing numbers partners are looking for ways to get more out of their online resources. My hope for this course along with the citation program is to supplement my current knowledge so I am able to best create programs and give good advice on what is most current on social media. My use of hashtags has mainly been via Instagram as a way to connect with like minded people. It was interesting to read Quantitative Approaches to Comparing Communication Patterns as the focus of Twitter hashtags appears to be to increase the amount of discussion on a thought. This is interesting as through my personal use on Instagram I have found that although discussions may occur they are not the main point of using hashtags- instead hashtags are a medium from I will find more images relating to a topic that I like or am interested in. Twitter and hashtaging as a way to connect with key audiences is definitely be a medium that I am looking forward to learning more about. My question regarding this article (Quantitative Approaches to Comparing Communication Patterns) might be a bit elementary (perhaps I missed this in the article) but it is: wouldn't the popularity and use of a hashtag on Twitter simply be because that topic matters to more people? The example of the #royalwedding is what drew this out- this is a worldwide event as are most of the natural disasters mentioned so more people in general would have wanted additional information or top share opinions. Is this question addressed somewhere else? From How to Ride on Already Popular Hashtags Without Turning People Off I felt the most important piece was to do your research especially if you are Tweeting for an organization (and yourself). For example when McDonald's debuted their #McStories tag the company was hoping for some user generated content that would champion their values but received more heart attack jokes and the like than anything (http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/01/24/mcdstories-when-a-hashtag-becomes-a-bashtag/). The takeaway for me from How to Ride on Already Popular Hashtags Without Turning People Off and the cautionary Mcdonald's tale is to know both your audience, and the medium you are using really, really well.
I am currently working for the new European Union Centre of Excellence at the U of A whose mandate is to highlight issues and research as it pertains to European Union-Canada relations in five broad categories ranging from democratic development to energy and the environment.
My role is one of marketing and communications, develop content for the website, report on events, and profile theme-based research and student activities.
An on-going challenge I am both observing and facing is how to develop and use the many communication channels effectively in a world where competition for attention is fierce, the scale is constantly moving and reading/information seeking behaviour is erratic and unpredictable. Even with our ability to precisely monitor the later, patterns are always changing.
Is the message getting out?
I understand that much of Facebook's and Twitter's business and design models were (loosely) based on the gaming world's points-based structure. Thus resulting in the appeal and the popularity of obtaining numbers of followers and tweets and how many 'friends' you have. -Just a thought, not necessarily the motivation of the masses.
I am looking forward to more thought-provoking discussion and some possible solutions as we all try to navigate real-time, adaptable and effective communication strategies.
Hi Everyone, Gary checking in!
ReplyDeleteI just finished reading the "Tweet this" article and something pop up. The article argues that audiences/users uses Twitter because they want to gratify a need to connect with others. The indicators of such gratification to connect are the time spent on Twitter and the users' frequency of tweeting and sending @replies.
Now that I think back on the way that I use Twitter; I found something that I can related to (and interesting), I would hit that "retweet" without hesitation. I do this simply because I believe my followers (mostly my friends) would be interested in the same topic as well. Sometimes, this generated a starting point of a conversation between my followers, either online or offline. Another aspect of this is the "Follow". I only follow those who I think can provide relevant information, which ultimately feeds me with interesting topics without me actively look for them.
One of the video made a good point, 140 characters is short enough that does not disrupt anyone, and groups of these 140 character tweets paint a picture of people's lives; I think I like to use Twitter because of that. It also seems like everything happens in "real-time" for Twitter. 140 characters may not cover the whole story at once. However, if a topic is interesting enough, I'm more likely to check back later for updates.
Phew...that was lengthy and I hope it make sense :)
Gary
Thanks for commenting Gary. I'm glad you found a parallel between the article and your use of Twitter. Interesting.
DeleteGood point too re: the "real time" aspect of twitter.
Hi all
ReplyDeleteI nervously laughed at the "Tweet This" article - I've often felt proud of myself if a follower retweets me...even though we see 'retweet is not an endorsement' on many profiles!! Retweets can sometimes feel like an unspoken message - as if someone agrees, without actually saying the words. Reactions, replies and retweets suggests 'someone is listening' so there is a feeling of being connected and the motivation to tweet on!
One other thought: The various scales of how people use Twitter - I'm sharing information intended for two or three friends - like a link to a recipe or a photo of a nice pair of shoes. Obama is encouraging millions of strangers to donate to his political campaign and arriving at a total of $55m!
Just my pondering out loud!!
Fiona
Ah Fiona, I think we've all shared those nervous-laugh moments! Especially with new technologies/modes/platforms. :)
DeleteI think you're right, the RT is a bit like silence is acceptance. It implies an agreement, even if the profile notes no endorsememnt; then why RT?
Remember too, that even if you intend your tweets to be read by only three people, they are public and anyone and everyone can see them (if they wish). :) I'll be looking for those recipes....
Thankfully my recipe tweets are not controversial enough to be monitored by the Authorities, like the London riots as described in Kuta in "Exploring the Pros and Cons of Twitter in Real-Time Events" - a good example of users connecting with each other, but also being monitored by law enforcement!
DeleteThe common theme in much of the course material I have read so far, as well as the thoughts from fellow classmates is 'connection'.
The Common Craft video highlights how the user can stay up to date with friends and family world wide by following them on Twitter. Its interesting that feeling of connection is there regardless of time zone or face to face interaction.
Hello Fellow Class Members,
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed the class reading and videos in Module One. I especially found interesting the paper “Tweet This” and the theory it presents that active Twitter use satisfies a need for human connections. I can understand that for quite a number of people this appears to be the case, especially when you see the stats of the number of people who are using Twitter and Twitter’s increasing popularity as a social media platform.
I was first introduced to Twitter by my friend Diana Herrington, who is a very active Twitter user with over 22,000 followers. Diana has talked to me on numerous occasions on how effective Twitter is at making social connections. She has not only made many online connections through Twitter, but many of these have also turned into personal connections with people all over the world.
For me, I have found that Twitter is a great way to send short bits of news and to keep up on currents trends and events in fields that interest me. I have yet to experience what I would deem to be a human connection here in the same manner that I do with Facebook. As such, I would say I use Twitter sporadically. Through Facebook, I have not only connected with friends and family on a personal level, but I have also made new friends (some of which have developed into personal connections offline). I even belong to a few communities of really interesting people who share my love of movies and like to share that passion online.
I did like that the paper discussed that people need to discover the social media platform that best resonates for them personally. I would agree with that statement.
In relation to Twitter, I am very open to learning more about Twitter through this course and, in particular, how to more effectively make those human connections, as well as create more powerful content here.
BTW—I also enjoyed the editing on the videos, in particular, “Did You Know 4.0.” Very interesting stats as well.
Terry
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Terry. Your friend Diana obviously knows exactly how to harness Twitter and is enjoying making the connections. I too have made online connections which have turning into RL interactions. It's all about employing a suite of tools for your own specific goal.
DeleteLet's see what you think of Twitter as your use evolves during the course.
Hello Classmates,
ReplyDeleteI have really enjoyed learning from and participating in Module One of this course for many reasons. From a curriculum perspective - the first online course for me (and inaugural blog) - I liked the variety of content: a combination of research literature, videos and practical application, created a solid platform from which to launch.
Chen's article identifies the use of Twitter as a means to gratify our need to connect with others. The individual "receives gratification only or mainly from being involved in the process of communication behaviour, rather than from message content" (Cutler & Danowski, 1980, p.270). I am not sure if I agree with the later - as some of my classmates have also indicated - many people are seeking to make connections via Twitter through content that is meaningful to yourself and perhaps others.
I am also trying to decide what my views are regarding the gap that is created between the online and offline worlds of communication. For example, you might have an online discussion for x amount of time, then 'walk away', because ie. you need to have lunch etc., and resuming particular conversations at a later date often lose momentum or perhaps other events have occurred that result in not resuming discussions at all. Basically, 'life' happens between tweets and Facetime.
Online veins of communication have both enhanced and created new connections and replaced many traditional ones.
...am looking forward to our next learning chapter and meeting everyone, for the second time and offline!, this week.
Louise
Louise, thanks for sharing your reactions. I'm glad you enjoyed the variety of content. I'm attempting to include various learning styles - even if most of our course is online.
DeleteI'm thinking about your view that life happens between tweets. I'm not sure if I'd agree with that. What if one tweets after the fact - after that fantastic meal or great day out - as a way to *remember* and share that experience? I would agree that tweeting while in the moment probably takes away from the experience though I know there are researchers that disagree and argue that it actually heightens engagment.
Greetings everyone,
ReplyDeleteI seemed to be combining class assignments right out of the gate. In my learning objectives intro I mentioned the article regarding fostering human connections using Twitter and now I want to back track and elaborate a bit more on my learning objectives. Please bear with me:)
While I am not a communications/marketing professional, elements of these professions are part of my day to day work life. I consult with our communications department about how to promote our programs to reach our target audience and I'm frustrated by the push to use social media over traditional sources of communicating (i.e. print media) ... almost a case of throwing the baby out with the bath water.
It's why I signed up for this course, hoping to become acquainted more intimately with these various platforms. Because I have to confess, I love technology and I spend lots of time on the computer in my work life, and if I'm home alone, in my non-work life. But I am a passive consumer of things like Twitter and Facebook. I signed up for Twitter back in 2009, but I didn't really know what to do with it. I follow 'experts' in my areas of personal interest, investing, money management, travel hacking, etc. but have never really interacted with them. And most of my friends weren't on Twitter so I had no reason to retweet.
So the first article about connections, has given me food for thought as why I don't interact with Twitter, as opposed to popping in once in awhile to see what's up. I actually follow Obama, but I didn't donate to his campaign, and I have my suspicions as to whether he writes his own tweets.
The video about how to use Twitter reminded me of why I didn't take to it initially ... I remember hearing on the radio about Ashton Kucher tweeting some really banal things about his day to day living, and I just was NOT interested in knowing this. Neither did I want to share my daily minutiae with others, and TBH, I don't enjoy reading other people's minutiae ... unless they are gifted at writing and then that just becomes something to consume, not interact with.
The video with the stats - I enjoyed watching it. We do live in a visual culture, and I enjoyed how the information was presented. Again, as a self-described immigrant to this new media world, I couldn't help but marvel at the untold numbers of stats that comprised this presentation and that the credits in the last few slides cited web sources and iphotostock.
I have run across generational marketing in my work and would really like to know how generations respond to new media or how they interact with it. But then I have to remind myself, as someone has already mentioned, Facebook and Twitter have been in place for less than 10 years. Will it be around in another 10 years?
It's been awhile since I've dipped my toes into the pool of academia ... and already all I have are questions and observations and musings! Great start to the course, thanks for the food for thought.
Larissa aka Tango Lara
PS My first twitter handle was Manymuse. Follow me if you want retweets from the Wealthy Barber, David Chilton. He is as funny online as he is in person!
I also enjoyed the variety of content between videos, practical tips and a research paper. The latter was interesting to me, as for some reason I have not become active on Twitter even though I joined it years ago. I don’t have anything against Twitter – I use it for work and try to learn more about it.
ReplyDeleteI remember reading somewhere that only about 30% of registered Twitter users are active. Are there any studies that would explain what types of people actively use Twitter?
You might find this information about twitter and it's users interesting
DeleteHello all
ReplyDeleteSimilar to my classmates, I enjoyed this week’s reading. The videos provided snappy, eyebrow-raising (to me, an admitted social media novice) facts that didn't quite shock me but made me sit up and think about just how much social media has changed how we communicate. In particular:
• X Plane Visual Thinking. (2009). Did you know 4.0.
Fascinating stats – with the rapid evolving pace of social media it would be interesting to know what the same stats are now (five years on). I also liked how this video was edited, I felt like I couldn’t tear my eyes from the screen or I would miss something!
• Wesch, M. (2007). The Machine is Us/ing Us.
This was definitely thought-provoking. There is so much information online at our disposal – I have never stopped to consider what information I am providing by mindlessly searching, key words, or tagging/commenting. The ‘Machine’ is using us, and of course, if the machine is using us for content – I get the argument that ‘we’ are the machine. I find this quite scary too though!
• Commoncraft. (n.d). Twitter in Plain English.
I liked this short summary of Twitter. Being a ‘wordy’ person, 140 characters is sometimes no easy task for me. I do see the appeal of short/quick and as Gary says ‘real-time’ insights to one’s life and capturing the moment. Living away from many family and friends, I would value a daily feed of these precious moments.
Finally, Chen’s article was an interesting read. I do agree with the statement that Twitter use gratifies a need to connect with others, but I would not be quick to imply that this is a fact for all Twitter users.
Chen mentions that communication behaviour is goal-orientated. If the Twitter user’s goal is to connect with others, then I agree with Chen that the user is active to gratify a need to connect with others, and Twitter certainly opens up a world of connections that might otherwise not be available.
Certainly, the act of tweeting is Twitter’s code of conversation, and @replies signal people embarking on the conversation. I agree with Fiona, in that retweeting is an act of agreement, or at least, an interest in the thought or subject put forward in the tweet. Why else would a user wish to share it with their followers? Similarly, by tweeting a photo that captures a moment, one is opening their lives to other online Twitter users, and in that, I would think, interested in connecting. In this way, Chen, I believe, it right in his argument that those who spend a lot of time tweeting, replying and creating @replies seek to engage with other users, and get gratification in doing this.
However, a Twitter user may be very active on Twitter, but their communication behaviour may be for a completely different reason – for example to seek information. A user may spend as much time on Twitter as a person who is seeking to connect with others, but their act of following people of interest and retweeting on occasion could merely serve to gratify their need for information. This is obvious in the decline in print newspaper readership – more and more people are getting their daily ‘news fix’ via Twitter! I was glad to see that Chen mentioned this as a limitation in the report.
That’s my thoughts for now ;)
Kerry-Ann
Nice to meet everyone.
ReplyDeleteMy name is Victoria- I am looking forward to our in class dates at the end of this week.
Something that popped out for me in one of the videos from this week was 'ethics in social media.' This is all of a concern, challenge, and opportunity for me in my current role, as the my organization has extensive reach to our key audience through social media channels which often places us in the position to decide if we can use a quote or photo posted to any of pages in other areas of our business (such as print materials).
Hi everyone,
ReplyDeleteReally great to see these comments and introductions! Looking forward to continuing the discussion in class this week.
Best,
Erika
Hi there. I am Laura Leigh. Very, very new to this media. I was under the impression that this was used only as a way to communicate with family, friends and potential contacts but am now starting to see I was wrong. I quess I'll see as we move along.
ReplyDeleteThanks Laura for sharing your thoughts. Glad to hear your impressions are already changing.
DeleteHi there! I'm Dawn Carter and I must be one of the last people in the class to post. I've been interested in using communications tools to make connections for quite some time now, and that also ties into my interest in building communities, creating spaces (virtual and physical) for learning, and creating pathways for knowledge sharing. I'm quite interested in social media/web 2.0 in internal communications. Using these tools in an public relations context is something I'm nervous about but I'm also open to learning about the possibilities and challenges in using these tools in reaching to a broader audience. I've been the type of person to encourage group projects and collaborative efforts not only at work but in my creative pursuits as a writer/spoken word artist. So I have a very broad interest in knowledge sharing that crosses many of my interests and I think a good grasp of social media would help me generate some new projects in the future at work and in my private pursuits.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the assigned readings and videos, I had a couple of ideas come to mind. The first one was "convergence and connection" stated in the X Plane Visual Thinking video and reiterated in the Wesch and Commoncraft videos. Social media tools democratize communication channels and provide multiple points and possibilities of connection. I think that's exciting! Though at the same time - as brought up in another SM class Im taking, that may leave many silent voices out of the equation...that is, those who have SM have the opportunity to be heard but we may be missing out on the perspectives of those who do not have access...but I digress!
Another thing that came to mind was the malleability of digital content. I found the The Machine is Us ing us quite fascinating! I read an article about how text should become multifunctional with active links, but even digital text has its limitations, which the author proved in his article - some of the embedded content he put in just wasnt working in the way he intended. I wish I could remember the name of the article and the exact concept he was trying to describe.
As a final thought, I liked the U&G theory applied to Twitter in Chens article. I think that ties in well with convergence and connection, in that people have a variety of choices in the medium they choose to connect with, and will choose the most conducive mode possible for them to satisfy their need for connection. Though Twitter allows for micro-posts connections can be made outside of e-mail and blogs as the Commoncraft video suggests, which meets the U&G needs for the tweeter and their followers.
Apologies for the spotty grammar; Im getting used to a new laptop and trying not to write in what may seem to be very poor Spanish or French, what with all the accents popping up when I hit the quotes button! Any one have any tips on how to fix that...lol!
Hi everyone,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Cristian Dumo, I am from the philippines. Actually, during my college years, social media has been the way on connecting to my family, my friends, and also my to professors/advisers. I always acknowledge its power, and I hope within this program I can discover more things about it and what can I do more to it.
Based on the videos,studies, and also on my personal experience, social media is becoming a part of our daily lives(or for most of us). It is the new way of connecting to people that we know and also the people that we want to know or be friends with. It is a new medium in the field of marketing and communications, it is a new place for selling and advertising. This media, is also the 'IT' thing in journalism, it is the new way of gathering news/information and also a new way of disseminating it. In terms of spreading informations, it has wider reach compared to the traditional media. It is also a new venue of entertainment for most us, and the best part of it is IT'S FREE(mostly).
Looking forward on learning more about this media and also on the activities/trivias.
Regards,
Cristian
Hello fellow classmates.
ReplyDeleteThe readings, videos and interactions on-line these past 10 days have reinforced previous ideas and have provided fresh questions for me about social media and what it means to my life and my business. Our world is grappling with the explosion of Internet use and the emergence of social-media communication platforms and their impact on both human interaction and on the way we do business. “The Machine Is Us” explains how this evolution has happened. G.M. Chen is trying to understand some of the whys, while “Did You Know?” explains who, where and what is being impacted. The title of this last piece highlights the fact that these changes are occurring so fast that we have not had the time to really reflect on their impact on every aspect of society, including politics, commerce and our social world.
So, has it all changed just the way we do life, or has it changed life itself? If I were to believe “Twitter in Plain English”, I would have to conclude that life itself has changed. According to the producers of this piece, “real life” happens between “blogs and posts”. Should one conclude then that you have to be posting and blogging to even have a real life? and, that this “life” consists of a series of mundane activities? I had better break the news to my parents, and the dozens of other people I know who have resisted becoming active on social media, as well as the many active Facebook users who are not yet on Twitter.
Personally, I don’t have any interest in becoming like “Carla” or her friends. If she has been following “Stephen” on Facebook and wasn’t aware that he was a baseball fan until Twitter, then I’m not so sure he really was one of the people “that mattered most to her”. Of course, she could have missed that detail because she was “off to sleep” and “running late”. It’s no wonder she ended up in the front row. Everyone knows that if you arrive late you’re most likely sitting in the front. If you were wondering, I did catch the fact that her front row seat was for a Van Halen concert. (If she were a real fan she would have been there early.) Poor Carla aside, my cynical self emerges when I sense I am being given a poorly-executed sales job to convince me to use, buy or participate in something I wasn’t aware I needed.
Ironically, that is why we are all here. To learn how to effectively communicate, effectively get our message across, effectively use platforms and tools that - whether we like it or not, or whether we fully understand them or not - are now part of every day life.
Millicent
Hi Everyone,
ReplyDeleteIn addition to the ethics in social media issue I mentioned above I would like to add the following.
As I mentioned in my profile on the moodle I work with Travel Alberta which is the marketing organization for the Province of Alberta (a crown corporation). A part of my current role is designing, implementing, and communicating results of programs that are created to help tourism industry partners reach key consumers. Social media is already playing an important role in many of these marketing programs and as it develops increasing numbers partners are looking for ways to get more out of their online resources. My hope for this course along with the citation program is to supplement my current knowledge so I am able to best create programs and give good advice on what is most current on social media.
My use of hashtags has mainly been via Instagram as a way to connect with like minded people. It was interesting to read Quantitative Approaches to Comparing Communication Patterns as the focus of Twitter hashtags appears to be to increase the amount of discussion on a thought. This is interesting as through my personal use on Instagram I have found that although discussions may occur they are not the main point of using hashtags- instead hashtags are a medium from I will find more images relating to a topic that I like or am interested in. Twitter and hashtaging as a way to connect with key audiences is definitely be a medium that I am looking forward to learning more about.
My question regarding this article (Quantitative Approaches to Comparing Communication Patterns) might be a bit elementary (perhaps I missed this in the article) but it is: wouldn't the popularity and use of a hashtag on Twitter simply be because that topic matters to more people? The example of the #royalwedding is what drew this out- this is a worldwide event as are most of the natural disasters mentioned so more people in general would have wanted additional information or top share opinions. Is this question addressed somewhere else?
From How to Ride on Already Popular Hashtags Without Turning People Off I felt the most important piece was to do your research especially if you are Tweeting for an organization (and yourself). For example when McDonald's debuted their #McStories tag the company was hoping for some user generated content that would champion their values but received more heart attack jokes and the like than anything (http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/01/24/mcdstories-when-a-hashtag-becomes-a-bashtag/). The takeaway for me from How to Ride on Already Popular Hashtags Without Turning People Off and the cautionary Mcdonald's tale is to know both your audience, and the medium you are using really, really well.
Hello again,
ReplyDeleteI am currently working for the new European Union Centre of Excellence at the U of A whose mandate is to highlight issues and research as it pertains to European Union-Canada relations in five broad categories ranging from democratic development to energy and the environment.
My role is one of marketing and communications, develop content for the website, report on events, and profile theme-based research and student activities.
An on-going challenge I am both observing and facing is how to develop and use the many communication channels effectively in a world where competition for attention is fierce, the scale is constantly moving and reading/information seeking behaviour is erratic and unpredictable. Even with our ability to precisely monitor the later, patterns are always changing.
Is the message getting out?
I understand that much of Facebook's and Twitter's business and design models were (loosely) based on the gaming world's points-based structure. Thus resulting in the appeal and the popularity of obtaining numbers of followers and tweets and how many 'friends' you have. -Just a thought, not necessarily the motivation of the masses.
I am looking forward to more thought-provoking discussion and some possible solutions as we all try to navigate real-time, adaptable and effective communication strategies.
Bonsoir!
Louise