What do Lady Gaga and Barack Obama have in common; they each have over 7 million followers in Twitter. Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schroot), 2 million followers. So what is this phenomenon known as Twitter? Well if you are not living under a rock then you would know the social networking tool known as Twitter is an outlet for a user to let you know, well, anything they want really. By becoming a follower of said user you will then receive updates as to what this user is doing, thinking and or wanting you to know.
Dubbed “A source of breaking news and rumors” Twitter was launched in 2006 and since has gained much popularity, it is estimated there are over 170 million users. That is 170,000,000 users speaking their minds, sending updates on important topics instantly.
One feature becoming very popular on websites and, blogger sites is a small appliance utilizing Twitter. The “twitter feed gadgets” can be set up on your web-page with some simple code and configured to display twitter feeds or what are simply known as tweets. The concepts behind this feature are simple, select some keywords for search parameters and in turn the gadget displays what the social network is talking about as it pertains to that topic. Essentially this tool becomes a conduit for displaying the information you would like to broadcast. I have incorporated this tool into my blog with a few key words, Graphic design and Information design.
The social networking concept will be with us for awhile, and we are in the midst of a want it now society and this is true with information. Do you want to know the association between the African Blue Dual Coned Picklelittle to the rain forests of Nigeria, guaranteed somewhere there is someone tweeting about just that very topic. Information travels at light speeds now thanks to the internet, and Twitter has taken advantage of that. Also by incorporating mobile applications into their services, information dissemination may occur on the fly versus having to wait until one is behind the computer.
So the conclusion, Twitter is designed to get information out there quickly, whether informative in nature or just a person’s sharing of thoughts the purpose is the same. Get you the information you want, NOW!
Nice use of the Twitter gadget Jonathan! I admit I'm not into Twitter as much as I am the other Social Media tools (Facebook)... It seems to have a language all of it's own. The limited amount of characters spawned the creation of the "tiny URL" (which is very handy) and I have no idea what the @ or # symbols are used for?
ReplyDeleteHi Jonathan,
ReplyDeleteI don't use the social networking sites. Had a little experience with Twitter only for an ESC class I took.
In designing your blog page in Blogger, how do those real time Twitter updates appear automatically on your pages? I have no idea how this is done.
I like your typography and choice of sizes and colors which keeps it simple and easy to read. What I really like a lot is your choice of background with the satellite view of the Earth! Perfect! What better way is there to visualize communication that is heard round the world!
Nice blog pages.
Ann Marie from class