After reading "I Tweet Honestly, I Tweet passionately," I sort of have a brand new outlook on Twitter. I have never had a Twitter until this class, because I didn't really understand what I was supposed to use it for. But after seeing the responses from this article, it was interesting to see what some people use it for.
One of the most interesting parts of the article was when it was talking about how we are pretty much talking to ourselves. When Twitter users responded to the question about who they tweet for, there were a number of answers that said they were just tweeting for themselves. Some people like to look back and see what they said at a certain point. Some use Twitter as a diary of sorts, to write down everything that is going on with them. Some said they just do it, just to do it.
However, I feel as if some of these statements are not true. I don't know these people, but I believe we don't just tweet for ourselves, we tweet so that people can relate to us, or maybe just to get the comfort of knowing that at least someone has read what you have to say. While I agree that some people with minimal followers may be doing it for themselves, people with large followings are not just doing it for themselves, but for others to take a peak into their lives.
Then there are the people who are completely anonymous as to who they are. This is the most fascinating to me, because you could virtually be whoever you want to be. Maybe you are someone who has accomplished all that you wish to accomplish. Or maybe you are someone that you admire. Or maybe you act on Twitter the way you wish you acted in real life. This is also the complication with Twitter that I personally have, is the fact that you may be following someone who isn't really who they say they are. But in the Twitter world, that doesn't really matter to us, because we enjoy reading them still.
The article talks a lot about audiences and who people are really catering too as well. Some people Tweet to get a large number of followers; maybe they are comedic, or maybe they go on interesting adventures. Then there are people who just Tweet for their friends; maybe it's the only way to stay in touch with everyone they personally know. Then there are the ones that do it for themselves, like I talked about before. It made me think about who I am Tweeting for. Honestly, it is just for the class to get the grade. But after this class, I honestly think that I will be much more active on Twitter.
So my main question I guess is, who do you Tweet for and why? Also, if you could come up with a a made up Twitter account and be whoever you wanted to be, what would you be?
Prior to enrolling in Web 2.0, I was not active on Twitter. I remember registering for an account somewhere around 2009, so I've known about Twitter for quite some time. Even so, I have neglected using the social media site since the individuals that I communicate with regularly do not use the service. I know the peers that I contact most frequently through organizations that rely on Facebook groups heavily. For this reason, many of my friends use Facebook as their primary social media site. While I know of some friends with Twitter accounts, I was hesitant to connect with them when I created my brand new Twitter account. I saw Twitter as an opportunity to connect with a new audience - one separate from those that I connected with through Facebook. On Twitter, I write for an audience that I know on a more professional level - an audience composed of individuals that I meet at events related to my professional aspirations, know from academic settings, and work with professionally - very similar to the audience I connect with on LinkedIn.
ReplyDeleteIf I could be anyone on Twitter, I think it would be interesting to be a socialite. You know the ones; they tweet about the bargains they snag on shopping sprees and share photos of their Starbucks fraps.
When I first registered on Twitter, I usually tweeted like once every a month or so. And everything I tweeted were particularly quotes. Not until taking this class and understanding the whole Twitter culture that I became an active user. Now I tweet about certain areas that are to my interest—critiquing a film, violin, and saving the world. So I am not surprise to see that the article found people just tweeting for themselves. I mean especially with the character limit there is only so much you can say that it slightly restricts your tweets.
ReplyDeleteIt slightly scares me that you might be not following someone who say who they are but they are not. I see Twitter as more of a professional social media so the whole anonymous thing freaks me out. I would have never though about it because I am usually good at indicating fake profiles but on Twitter you can call yourself Bill Gates, copy a picture from Google Images and there you have Bill Gates. I would never make a fake profile. I mean yes I admire people in my life but I think it’s a bit extreme taking time out of your life and investing so much into someone else’s identity.