I never understood Twitter, but now I finally get it. #egypt #eqnz #qldfloods
Filed under: hash tags, networks, news, social media, social trends, technology, Twitter
Twitter has never really been my thing, I mean, I’ve never really seen the benefit of it – why would anyone want to follow me? I’m sure no-one will ‘Retweet’ what I had for lunch and I’ve never fully understood how hash tags work. With Facebook, I can keep in touch with family and friends and set my privacy options on lockdown; Twitter on the other hand doesn’t discriminate and relays your thoughts to everyone.
While I’m not comfortable with strangers knowing what’s going on inside my head, people who are unable to speak freely in their own countries are using social media to share their thoughts for social change – it was a YouTube video that helped spark the people’s revolution in Egypt, supported by a worldwide Twitter conversation using the hash tags #egypt and #jan25.
The recent natural disasters in Queensland and Christchurch has seen a rush of people take to Twitter and Facebook providing live updates direct from people on the ground, including photos/video and tweets from people abroad offering their condolences and messages of support.
Over the past few weeks I’ve had late nights glued to the computer screen tabbing between Al-Jazeera’s live stream, Facebook, YouTube and warming up to Twitter as a keen observer and occasional contributor, fascinated by the real-time worldwide conversation from people in Christchurch, North Queensland and The Middle East.
Countries with repressive regimes control traditional mass media sources: television, radio and newspaper. Anyone who speaks out against the government may disappear without a trace and it’s often difficult for the population to get their opinion across en masse…that was before Facebook and Twitter hit the scene.
Citizen journalism through social media can be seen as a threat. Egypt and Libya have controlled the flow of information in and out of the country by shutting down the internet, restricting people from using social media sites which many believe has played a major role in the demonstrations. A new Egyptian father even named his daughter ‘Facebook’ in honor of the role the website had played in the recent revolution.
Events in last few weeks have changed my Twitter perceptions and even though I’m still not a huge ‘tweeter’ – as an observer and re-tweeter, I finally get it.
How long did it take you to “get” a social networking channel and what changed your mind?
I’m with you, I haven’t ever really got my head around Twitter, but I’m beginning to understand how important a mouthpiece it can be.
The thing I don’t like is people who update their Facebook status with every teeny tiny thing they do every day. I don’t care if they’re having left over bolognese for dinner tonight, I didn’t care when they had it first time round last night!
I’ve really being getting into twitter recently. It took me a while as well. Its amazing to see to when big events happen how quickly information can spread. Sometimes its wrong or misinformed but any ‘false reports’ are usually just as quickly discovered. During the cyclone in Qld I posted a pic of a boat which i was led to believe was off the coast of queensland. It turned out to be a picture that was 3-4 years old. Within an hour of posting the tweet (and after being retweeted many times) I had people DM’ing me that the photo was a fake. I immediately deleted the pic and when i saw the bit.ly link come up again I made sure I let people know it was a fakey. It was good experience as it taught me to thinik before rewtweeting. Great blog on an interesting topic.
Twitter’s greatest asset as far as I’m concerned is it’s immediacy, succinctness and ability to engage with nothing more that 140 characters per tweet!!
I first joined thinking I would use it to gain a larger audience for my photography and tshirt design, but in the intervening two years, it’s become the ‘online’ place I spend the most time.
I follow political journalists (not politicians), a couple of celebrities (Twitter luminary @StephenFry amongst them, lots of home town folks (many of whom I’ve subsequently met IRL), some worthwhile causes, and a few just “normal” folk!
I’ve sought and received help with the kid’s homework, received donations of Playstations for my work place, been inspired to donate artwork for our local hospital, been part of an exhibition curated by that same hospital and last night rang the Red Cross in NZ to help a Twitter friend add his mum to a missing persons register in Christchurch. (She’s since been located safe and sound).
Twitter entertains me, keeps me thinking, makes me aware of what’s going on in my world and can be as serious or as frivolous as my mood at any given moment!!
Persevere with it Jehad – it’s like anything in life – you only ever get back what you put in!!
Cathie (@CathieTranent)
@Gaby, It took me a while to get into because I was always comparing it to Facebook but comparing the two is like apples and oranges. I still get a little confused with the @’s and the #’s but I think it just takes practice.
@Sam, I was keeping an eye on #qldfloods and the QLD police Facebook page. They were constantly asking people to stop spreading rumors through Twitter. As if the people of QLD needed more to worry about. Just gotta take a lot of what’s out there with a grain of salt I guess. Good on you for letting everyone know it was fake though…some people enjoy watching their rumors spread.
@Cathie, WOW – homework, Playstations and helping out the peeps of NZ and at the same time promoting your art. You’ve def inspired me to keep at it. I mainly follow news sources but also underground hip-hop artists who don’t get much attention in mainstream media – their tweets keep me up to date on projects they’re working on and inspires me for my own musical ventures.
Twitter is an amazing tool to connect like minded people around the world. I’ve found it inspiring to be able to approach and talk with a large number of influential people who I never thought I’d be able to get time with. That you can message these people directly, and they actually respond shows how times are changing.
Interestingly I relied on Twitter to keep me advised of the latest updates from back in New Zealand over the last week. I first caught news of the earthquake on my feed before media organisations could update their websites, and used it to see the impact first hand from people sharing videos and images from the epicentre.
Twitter is changing the way people communicate, and the way the public opinion is set. A challenge exists for conventional media organisations to really interact in this space and understand the potential of how it will giving power back to the end consumer.
It’s really interesting to see how things play out over the next few years in the social media space, I think Twitter and Facebook are just the beginning. Even though it’s taken me a while to get the hang of it, it’s become my main source for news.
yeah i love twitter it changed my life forever like totally omg! foreverrrr!!
Nice one Ahmed, follow me @thebrothahood
I still don’t get what it’s for; unless it was developed specifically for people in repressive regimes. It’s not quite as pointless as facebook; a company who’s mere existence make me want to vomit, but with the exception of its use in emergencies and revolutions, pretty much a complete waste of bandwidth and time. I’m only on it because apparently it’s important for my work. Never seen the benefit so far.
@Gwynn – Twitter has certainly done that by removing any depth or complexity from many communications; by enhancing banality and noise and by generally acting to limit humanity’s ability to think in anything other than soundbites.
The good thing about Twitter (which I had only recently discovered) is the ability to search particular words which relate to your interests. It’s good for companies because they can see what people are saying about them (the good and the bad) which allows them to improve business practice and connect with customers directly.
Whatever you’re into, you can find a community of people on Twitter or Facebook who share those interests. The above comment from Cathie is a prime example, she’s done amazing things by connecting with people using social media.
The trick to twitter is maintaining momentum and energy. Need to also make sure that your audience use twitter as a source of information.
if you want to take twitter to the next level, i sugges you check out :http://twittinsecrets.com/
I’ve got his mobile marketing course and it rocks.
Thanks Khalid, I’ll check out the site. This blog was actually picked up by @TweetSmarter, they regularly post ‘Twitter tips’. They’re very interactive and post really good stuff.
‘Countries with repressive regimes control traditional mass media sources: television, radio and newspaper.’
Hmmm, do we really think that our mass media publications are any more free to present real news without bias ?
Best think about Twitter et al is that (in most cases) the news is unfiltered, realtime and ‘honest’
That’s what I love about it. Real news, from real people in real situations. I take much of what’s on twitter with a grain of salt because like Sam said, there are many ‘false reports’.
Hate to break it to everyone, but we are also in a repressive regime, where we are being manipulated and where mass media is controlled, but thankfully not as bad as some countries overseas. Atleast to the most we are safe in our repression. Too long have we been told what to think and feel though, and seeing Twitter, Facebook, Wikileaks etc etc pushing back does fill me with hope that this can be changed.
I think anything that can give power back to the people is a great idea and should be encouraged, and I do hope such things are just a small taste of what is to come. Those in power of a country, company or whatever will learn that the masses hold a far great power when wielded. Such agendas that are not in the interest of everyone cannot be fought if they are not known about (Egypt was an example of that for me … never knew there were any issues there currently till the recent news)
Personally though, I am not a fan of Twitter as it all seems rather soap box ish and does have a tendancy to suck away time, but then again I also am not a fan of Facebook. I dont see a need to be updating everyone all the time to my actions and feelings. I do like blogs and forums in general though as they are a good way to communicate and connect with those with simular interests or thoughts. Each to their own I guess…
What I do know is the more we share, more we educate each other, and bring these injustices and deciept to light the better we ALL shall be…. exciting times to live…
Si, if we are in a repressive regime here, then surley we only have ourselves to blame as they are a freely elected government.
As for twitter and facebook being soap boxish, yes a lot of people make them so. I don’t care what you had for breakfast,
nor do I care that you just bought new shoes.
Freedom of information is a wonderful thing, but just remember, most of the tweets people look at are biased opinions and not expert analysis. Unfortunatley too many people take everything they read/tweet/post as gospel and never check sources. (Classic example here where the photo of the boat was tweeted and was a fake)
Information is only as good as the source.
I completely agree Andy (perhaps I sounded a bit over the top before but I think you saw my point), we are to blame, but I do feel we don’t have a lot of options when it comes to voting (atleast in recent elections). They all essentially appear to follow the same script to me and I have taken an interest in the last two elections to ensure I am well informed in making my decision rather than just voting on feelings or a headline. What can we do though when faced with such a situation – how can change be instigated when we seem to get the same conservative political views reaching our leadership?
My view is it takes time, and ensuring people are well informed and educated to their situation and affairs relating to them, and bringing together those with a common peaceful goal (as we saw in Egypt for example). Perhaps we need to wait till my generation gets into power .. I dont know…
Any information regardless of the source should be scrutinised (not just Mass Media, but other sources), to filter through those biased opinons, cross reference information and make an informed call yourself. I don’t think many people do this though but then again who really has the time!!
Thanks for your comment.
Can someone please tell me what hash tag means
Hi Denise,
Think of a hash tag as a conversation topic. Each hash tag is part of a larger conversation about that topic. For instance, the ABC program Q&A has started the hash tag (conversation) #qanda, so anyone watching the show can contribute to the conversation happening on live TV through twitter by adding #qanda at the end of their tweet.
Anyone who searches for that hash tag can see all the posts related to #qanda on twitter in real time.
Hope that answers your question. I could go on all day explaining how hashtags are used but the best way to learn is to start exploring on twitter and getting your hands dirty, i promise you, you’ll figure it out in no time.
Good luck!
Jehad