Twitter the revolution

A summer of social networking

Attendance at the June, 2009 Edelman New Media Academic Summit in Washington, D.C. convinced me that social networking is advancing the importance of engagement.

My Twitter page, Aug. 23, 2009

The mass media 20th Century era of newspapers, radio and television emphasized one-way communication, but this new time is all about the computer-mediated communication (CMC) concepts of identity, interaction and community.

Enter my summer of discovery on Twitter and Facebook.

Twitter
The 140-character world of the tweet is fascinating. I like the way that stories unfold on twitter.com over time. For example, I began following Internet pioneer John Perry Barlow as he apparently was getting back on his feet:

johnperrybarlow I get out of rehab today. I hope I've been permanently habbed. Weird to dread leaving an alcoholic's Abu Graib.
11:57 AM Jul 29th from web.

Once out and about Barlow quickly became frustrated with Twitter and its brevity:

johnperrybarlow In the history of human expression, there has been no medium more ephemeral than Twitter. Genius lasts 10 minutes.
2:47 AM Aug 18th from web

johnperrybarlow Enough. That was my swan-tweet. I'm going to learn to carve letters in stone. Which may breed real economy of thought.
10:43 AM Aug 18th from Twittelator

Somewhere in the background was the role that Twitter users had played early in the summer in reporting and supporting the Iranian uprising. Supporters had shaded their Twitter photos green:

johnperrybarlow I'm sorry. One last tweet. We have been hugely self-congratulatory about Twitter and the Green Revolution.
We lost.
11:13 AM Aug 18th from Twittelator

I was sad to see Barlow leaving Twitter and decided to engage him one night. Much to my pleasant surprise, he responded:

johnperrybarlow@JeremyHL Yeah. I'm starting to have second thoughts. Maybe I'll get over my bad self and slink on back.
10:28 PM Aug 19th from Twittelator

And later he did:

johnperrybarlow I'm slinking back on Twitter. It appears that more of you were listening than I thought. Sorry for the tantrum.
2:44 PM Aug 20th from web

It seems to me that tweets such as these may be reprocessed into greater meanings. As a media researcher, I am particularly interested in how we can gain insights from columnists, media observors and journalists:

Deggans Today show anchor sez more than 300,000 responses came in to its poll on Michele Obama's shorts. For some reason, this depresses me.
6:13 AM Aug 20th from web

BulldogReporter Angry Travelers Flock to Twitter with Airline Gripes: "United airlines, you are the bane of my existence," reads.. http://bit.ly/8SBkl4:51 AM Aug 20th from twitterfeed

AnnCurry Okay, here's my photo of Helen Thomas' reaction when asked if she would join Twitter. http://tinyurl.com/ln6lsg 7:00 PM Aug 19th from web

And as a professor, I am thrilled to follow alumni from our journalism program:

chrismachian A New York Times cover I did is now a book. (I did the cover photo) http://tinyurl.com/ourboys
8:59 PM Aug 17th from web

And...

LozaFina Ok... So, I guess I'm going to Hooters tomorrow after all. Smile.
2:34 PM Jul 15th from web

Finally, Twitter is connecting me with colleagues from graduate school and universities around the nation,

FvrythingPR My Forever Pet Peeves: Publicity=Public Relations. http://bit.ly/5JyWz1:50 AM Aug 17th from TweetDeck

as well as the industry:

rickmurray May be the company I keep, but my facebook friends out-engage my Twitter followers 20:1
8:36 PM Aug 12th from Tweetie

Facebook

I am closing in on 500 facebook friends, and these appear quite different from the people I follow on Twitter. I like facebook because it is connecting me with old friends, former students and others within the context of their current lives.

The most interesting interaction is when an old friend and a new friend, who did not know each other, come together and comment on an issue. One plus one seems to add to more than two when these magic moments produce new human relationships.

I'm not ready to give up the face-to-face world, but I do think that the extended world of online relationships and engagement is the future of "media."