The recent earthquake in California was made news first not by CNN or any other antiquated network of journalists. It was informal contributors on Twitter that informed big media. This is not really news. Twitter is just one of many social networks that have been hastening the mass distribution of uncensored news over the last few years.
What makes Twitter unique is that it is a "microblogging" service. It removes many of the bells and whistles that form the ecosystem of a facebook-style utility, and provide simple text messaging, either for person to person or broadcast. There is a limit of 140 characters per message, so microbloggers are handcuffed from waxing lyrical or carrying on.
As proved by MaRS and others, Twitter can be a useful addition to a conference. Having participants comment on presentations, share parallel conversations and start new ones over the Twitter network opens up many new possibilities for meaningful stimulus and exchanges.
"The Twitter Effect" that I refer to though, is the question of the social implications of a Twitter, or text messaging in general. What will become of our language if we are constantly pushing ourselves to match the 140 character restraint? Will we evolve to a more concise and superior mode of exchange? Or, will metaphor and rich thought as written word disappear? If this happens, is there a chance that our ability to communicate elaborately will erode?
1 comment:
Hi,
Undoubtedly Twitter microblog site is this year's web 2.0 tool of choice for net savvy professionals to communicate with and grow their networks. Here are some tips for you to use to tweak your "tweets" and get more out of your Twitter presence:
Add value - don't just spout off about boring stuff. Nobody is interested in what color shoes you are wearing (maybe your underwear but definitely not your shoes!).
Use TinyURL or a similar url abbreviation tool to shorten the length of url links in your Twitter posts so they fit in the 140 character limit.
Most importantly Don't spam or sell.
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