Sunday, December 4, 2011
Blog Post 6 of 12
Twitter is populated by people who have a vague, unknown, or nonexistent audience. If I had a genuine twitter account I would probably not wonder about my audience too much, since I think that twitter is a kind of self-satisfying munching. I think twitter can be a viable tool in terms of arranging certain events for mass audiences. To be honest, I think the purpose of microblogging is to create a false aura of self-importance. This video is a bit harsh with its criticism, but the gist of the message remains the same with me.
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Sean, I really like how you classified that your twitter account was not genuine. I agree completely with your first sentence and I think some people truly believe they are talking to a large audience when they tweet, but really no one cares about a nobody's twitter.
ReplyDeleteI could not agree more! I love the self satisfying munching because that is exactly how I feel if I ever tweet. (which is never) The false Aura of self importance, What does that reveal about society? I need some elaboration on certain events for mass audiences, what do you mean? examples?
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the idea that Twitter and other sites much like it are used to create a feeling of self importance for its user. I can understand why people would want to follow a celebrity but really who wants to hear the ranting of little billy from down the street? I like your use of the term "munching" as if the writing on Twitter needs to be digested and taken in until its audience is satisfied. This is exactly the purpose of all types of media today, to entertain an audience consumed by boredom and looking to find what is going on in the lives of celebrities and other rich and famous icons.
ReplyDeleteThis is a terrific post. You really understand twitter and outlined that it is all in fact about self-importance. All day people sit behind a computer screen and tweet things they think are a much bigger deal than they really are. Do you think that people only find importance in other people's tweets if it is about them or they are mentioned? We don't seem to care about things that don't have anything to do with us.
ReplyDeleteIm really glad that you would tweet for your self purposes because it shows high self esteem and that you don't need the approval of others. But have you ever thought that some people do this for a sense of belonging? or maybe some people just read other tweets and not tweet themselves. i just think this is something you should consider.
ReplyDeleteUnknown audience? I don't think so. On twitter, one has followers, a type of subscriber. If one has a private account, then exactly who the people are that read the tweets is clear. I know people who use twitter only when they want to brag about something, but I know other people who use it daily, or frequently enough, and post rather thoughtful things. I all depends on the poster, in my opinion. I wouldn't jump to conclusions and generalize the entire Twitter community.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your blog post! I understand your arguments, however, Twitter was started as a social networking website to connect friends. Saying Twitter creates "a false aura of self-importance" is a bit strong; I agree with Toni that you are to a degree generalizing a small population of Twitter users. People use Twitter to promote events, chat with friends, and even to get news updates. In those examples, I do not see any issued of promoting self-importance.
ReplyDeleteSean I appreciate what you have to say about Twitter but I can't say I completely agree with you. You come off saying that Twitter is for people who need to boost their self-esteem by satisfying themselves and making themselves feel important. That may be the case for some people on Twitter but definitely not all, there is another side to Twitter. But don't get me wrong, most tweets are shouts in the dark.
ReplyDeleteI'm not too sure about the idea that "the purpose of microblogging is to create a false aura of self-importance." What about organizations or news channels that use Twitter to get important information across. Might want to consider that. Also, some people might use Twitter to boost their ego, but not all. Maybe reconsider your word choice?
ReplyDeleteinteresting thoughts. I'm not sure if I agree on the unknown audience idea. There are certain types of people who use twitter. Unlike facebook which is now populated by everyone Twitter still seems to be our age group sort of people. I do agree with the feeling of self importance statement though.
ReplyDelete