Web 2.0 and Social MediaBusiness in a Connected World

Chapter 6a

© McHaney and Sachs 2016

Twitter

Twitter-based communication has become: • daily part of news broadcasts• repository of knowledge • source of business intelligence• tool for mass communication • organizational aid • wealth of helpful hints• real time repository of cultural interaction records

Impacts business communication, interaction, and connections with stakeholders

Twitter Overview

Twitter UseOver 320 unique million monthly users send 350,000+ Tweets per minute.

Twitter Related-IndustriesIndustries have grown up around Twitter ranging from data analytics, to developing marketing channels, to creating social platforms.

Video

Changed the way mobile interactions take place.

Twitter: What is it?

Social MediaClassified as microblogging service and social media platform.

Messages are called Tweets

How Twitter Works

ChangesUser constructs a message (originally limited to 140 characters) sent to a list of followers. In early 2016, Twitter announced it would lift the 140-character tweet length in a limited way. A user would be able to continue typing until he or she reached a 10k character limit but only 140 are displayed without clicking on a link.

Size Matters140 character message size enables the technology to work within the 160 character limitations of SMS protocol on mobile phone networks.

140 Characters

SMS or Short Message Service is the most widely used data application in the world

SMS technology allows tweets to move over the Internet, through fixed line phones, and within mobile communication systems.

SMS Available on nearly 80% of all phone services.

SMS with Twitter

Twitter was first imagined by Jack Dorsey while working for Odeo.

Dorsey suggested extension to existing SMS platforms that fell somewhere between texting, email, Listserv entries, and social network updates.

New tool would track friends’ activities based on short status updates.

Dorsey worked with software developer Noah Glass who named it "twttr".

Twttr launched March 21, 2006 by Jack Dorsey with a tweet at 9:50 PM that read “just setting up my twttr”.

Glass added vowels to name and twttr became “Twitter”.

Twitter reformed as its own company in April 2007.

Twitter History

• By 2009, Twitter became a favorite of celebrity users and public figures.

• Kevin Rose, founder of Digg, made public aware of how Twitter fame translated into cultural capital.

• Celebrities, athletes, and politicians became regular Twitter users.

• Twitter’s appeal became undeniable for those seeking publicity. • Provided a direct link without needing an intermediary. • Previously, celebrities relied on the popular press and publicity agents. • Unedited messages sent directly in real time to millions of connected followers. • Control over content remained with the celebrity.

• Politicians were able to maintain connections with their supporters. • Barack Obama tweeted messages, received tweets, and used the information to fine-tune his

campaign.

More Twitter History

Twitter employs staff members to work with publicity agents and media public relations staff to ensures Twitter is used in high profile advertising and publicity campaigns. Twitter provides support and promotional tools that can help create buzz among potential followers.

Twitter and Celebrities

High Profile UsersDevelopers of Twitter recognized the benefit of ensuring that Twitter could be used by high profile individuals.Virtuous CycleCelebrities benefit and Twitter’s popularity surged each time a celebrity tweet was publicized in mainstream press.

Which Johnny Depp

Celebrity Pretenders

A special symbol is displayed next to the account name to show Twitter has ensured account accurately represents person or company depicted

Microsoft Example

Verified Accounts

Twitter Goes Viral

Life of Its OwnTwitter is a rare example of a social media service that took on a life of its own.

User-Driven Use ConventionsUsers began organizing their tweets and introducing new conventions.

JargonJargon developed that described a variety of actions within Twitter.

@ A Twitter Handle

Example User Innovation: @

User NamesTwitter user names needed to be identified within the context of a tweet.

Idea of the ‘@’Someone came up with the idea of placing the ‘@’ symbol in front of names to help identify a username.

Becomes PermanentThe idea caught on and was added to the Twitter platform as a permanent feature.

Support ToolsNow, @username is the standard way of addressing a Twitter user (called a handle).

Example User Innovation: #

IRC RootsInitially, hashtags were used on IRC (Internet Relay Chat) networks to help find group messages related to a particular topic.

Idea of the ‘#’Twitter users began using hashtags to help group conversations and searches.

Becomes PermanentTwitter developers took notice and on July 1, 2009, Twitter started to hyperlink all hashtags in tweets to facilitate searches.

Home Page ProminenceAbout one year later, “Trending Topics” added to Twitter home page to list most popular hashtags.

#

Example User Innovation: RT

RetweetThe ‘RT’ convention gave users a way to repost tweets sent out by others.

Idea of the ‘RT’Another example of user innovation in Twitter is the use of the characters ‘RT’ to represent retweets.

Becomes PermanentTwitter developers, in August of 2010, incorporated ‘RT’ into their core platform.

PopularityCounting retweets provides a measure of popularity of a particular message.

RT

Contact: Roger McHaney, Kansas State University, mchaney@ksu.edu