Posts
Sheila Newsom
DTC 375
Dr. Farman
April 9, 2009
Word count: 831
In 1974 Arthur Fry and Spencer Silver accidently invented the post it note (Ament, 2007). Used widely in offices since its birth, the post it note has also become a staple in homes to answer the question ‘what are you doing?’ Jump to 2006, in walks Twitter, and asks ‘what are you doing?’(Sarno). To which one has about as much space to type as one would have to write on a post it, and one might reply about food they are eating, music they are listening too, books they are reading or a combination of all of it. Twitter combines our society’s desire for speed and information sharing with an easy to use application that surpasses the post it note in today’s fast paced culture by allowing one to quickly share thoughts with others.
On a post-it-note one may write a note that says ‘I am out back’, or ‘I went to the store’. Maybe the note says what one of my high school friend’s step mother used to write ‘Debs, cat box, NB’ (NB being her stepmother’s initials). Short sweet and to the point. Now NB could have used some of her fancy letterhead and written a lovely note explaining to my dear friend Debbie the she would like her to clean the cat box and take the whole mess to the dumpster outside, but even in 1988 we wanted speed, and the post it note did the trick. Pointedly so, since post it notes are quite small, the information has to be concise. Twitter has taken the post it note and made it environmentally friendly. There is no paper waste when one ‘tweets’. No pencil to find, and unlike a text, when one ‘tweets’ the love is spread all around, so everyone knows you’re cleaning the cat box, walking around with snot running out your nose, or eating French fries, but only if you ‘tweet it’ that is.
Twitter is unique in that one can share their daily activities through their phone, laptop, or home computer to a select group of followers. From a Wired article on Twitter author Clive Thompson explains the benefit of receiving tweets from friends, “when I get such granular updates every day for a month, I know a lot more about [them]. And when my four closest friends and worldmates send me dozens of updates a week for five months, I begin to develop an almost telepathic awareness of the people most important to me.” He goes on to declare that, “Twitter and other constant-contact media create social proprioception. They give a group of people a sense of itself, making possible weird, fascinating feats of coordination” (Thompson). Twitter brings a group together and creates a sense of solidarity even when a ‘group’ is separated by miles, or even an ocean.
McLuhan’s idea of a global village is the idea that we are interconnected through technology, Twitter facilitates this. It brings people closer together through our connectedness with our technological extensions of ourselves. McLuhan states, “As electrically contracted, the globe is no more than a village” (McLuhan, 1995). As part of this ever changing global village we communicate digitally and create bonds that transcend the span of our physical village. Prior to the invention of Twitter this bonding was done through other avenues of digital and non-digital communication, and as McLuhan theorized , “[t]hey are now involved in our lives, as we in theirs, thanks to the electric media” (McLuhan, 1995). One can follow celebrities on Twitter like Paris Hilton, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher even P. Diddy, right along with your favorite Aunt in Omaha and best friend in New York. And with McLuhan’s idea of a global village we are digitally intertwined in each others lives and further connected globally.
What's more, “[t]witter provides an opportunity for community participants to control their own experience. Each user can arrange their virtual space as they see fit, compose the content of their own posts, include content of others they choose to follow, and engage at whatever level of participation they desire” (Hazelwood, Makice, and Ryan). Our society loves solidarity within a group, and at the same time enjoys expressing our individual desires. We are a culture that is “all about me”. Twitter gives one their fifteen minutes of fame, while allowing those to stay in touch.
In regards to the interactivity of Twitter, Zhao and Rosson agree that, “[t]he brevity of microblog posts make them easy to update and read. Its pervasive accessibility (e.g., from website, browsers, and mobile phones) allows authors to update their experiences and thoughts instantly, as things happen and thoughts cross their minds. Readers can check others’ updates when they get a moment (e.g., in the airport, on the train, or in between of two meetings).” We are globally connected even when we are physically apart. Twitter is another way to keep in touch that it is quick and convenient, and with rising advances in technology Twitter will make the post-it-note obsolete.
Works Cited
Ament, Phil (2007). Post-it-note history. Retrieved April 2, 2009, from The Great Idea Finder Web site: http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/postit.htm.
Hazelwood, William, R., Makice, Kevin, and Ryan, William. Twitterspace: A Co-developed Display Using Twitter to Enhance Community Awareness. Retrieved April 2, 2009 from http://www.wrhazlewood.com/~whazlewo/publications/pdc2008.pdf.
McLuhan, Marshall. Essential McLuhan. Ed. Eric McLuhan, and Frank Zingrone. New York: Basic Books, 1995.
Rosson, Mary Beth, and Zhao, Dejin. How Might Microblogs Support Collaborative Work? Retrieved April 2, 2009 from http://research.ihost.com/cscw08-socialnetworkinginorgs/papers/zhao_cscw08_workshop.pdf.
Sarno, David. Los Angeles Times. Twitter creator Jack Dorsey illuminates the site's founding document. Part I. Feb 18, 2009. Retrieved April 2, 2009 from http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/02/twitter-creator.html.
Thompson, Clive. "Clive Thompson on How Twitter Creates a Social Sixth Sense." Wired Magazine 15.07. 26 June 2007. Retreived April 2, 2009 from http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/magazine/15-07/st_thompson.
Showing posts with label communication. Show all posts
Showing posts with label communication. Show all posts
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
I'll Take Instant...Messaging That Is
Sheila Newsom
DTC 375
Dr. Jason Farman
Word count: 757
Researcher’s at Microsoft, one of the leaders in the technology field, proclaim that, “[i]nstant messaging (IM) has grown rapidly to involve millions of users spanning a variety of platforms.” (Czerwinski, Cutrell, Horvitz). They further say, “[t]he benefits of [IM] are numerous, including the ability to know when personal contacts are available, nearly instantaneous communication, and the ability to carry on several informal conversations at once.” (Czerwinski, Cutrell, Horvitz). Given my busy lifestyle IM allows the benefits of an email with the immediacy of a phone call all out of the comfort of a laptop.
IM is a combination of two forms of communication: email, and telephone. The aspects of an email contain no on the spot reaction, versus the aspects of a phone call where the response is immediate. Instant messaging is distinctive in that, at any given time one could feasibly hold an IM conversation with a classmate, a parent, a college/boss, and a friend living in Japan simultaneously. This medium allows for an office to hold its scheduled meeting even on a snow day. If a company has offices in different states they can have weekly meetings without paying for travel expenses. File sharing on instant messaging is similar to attaching a file in an email in that the file goes to the recipient. With instant messaging you have the option of saving files in a file sharing folder that the participants in the instant message have access to. Except that after composing and sending an email, there is a waiting period. Your message goes into cyberspace and uses principles similar to when a text is sent. The receiver has a choice; respond now, or wait until a more convenient time. In this age of immediacy, one might have several instant messages going at once, all while checking their personal email, reading a blog posting, and playing Word Path on Facebook. It is this instant response that makes IM individual and with IM the thought is that there is no waiting phase.
One might argue that instant messaging is an extension of the chat room, and the same may continue the argument that both are filled with the face of anonymity and veiled with deceit. For current communication techniques the IM is specific to those you invite or who have invited you. The façade of anonymity behind IM may seem appealing to some, while others view IM as a transparent form of contact. Given that much of our face to face communication is non-verbal, IM does lose some aspects of clarity. IM can have real world social implications that crate ‘real’ meaning, humor, and distinction within cyberspace. Even emotional reactions can be felt through IM in the form of acronyms, like LOL, ROTFL, and LMAO. Furthermore thoughts can be expressed once through IM and they do no have to be further explained, since IM is in readable form and can be reread. Ultimately there is no need to ask a question multiple times as could happen with a phone call, and again in the age of immediacy this appeals greatly.
Last week a fellow classmate and I were brainstorming over IM about an assignment, which led to file sharing and ultimately further collaboration on additional assignments. We were able to accomplish several tasks in one IM; out of that situation decisions were made, and projects finished. Given the same situation in a phone call, the conversation would have been longer as we would have read our assignments to each other, rather than opening the file and reading it ourselves.
The contexts in which IM is appropriate are limitless. One can IM with their mother, spouse, or boss, although the tone of the conversation will be specific to each. In particular when IM with a boss or coworker one would not use a smiley face emoticon, or acronyms, but it would be applicable when IM with a person who is in your close circle.
Social Networking site such as Facebook and Myspace have their own applications of IM, and these same principles are used by companies today with their own IM in specific workplace networks. IM has moved past the original technology of a combining a phone call and an email in that it was originally used only in social contexts, but has moved passed this thought into the corporate world who are now using this technology to facilitate work productivity in day to day operations. IM has morphed into something beyond its original idea of connection and today is seen as a time management tool.
Works cited
Czerwinski, Cutrell, Horvitz. (n.d.) Instant Messaging: Effects of Relevance and Timing. Retreived January 24, 2009 from, Microsoft http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/cutrell/HCI2k%20Instant%20Messaging.pdf
DTC 375
Dr. Jason Farman
Word count: 757
Researcher’s at Microsoft, one of the leaders in the technology field, proclaim that, “[i]nstant messaging (IM) has grown rapidly to involve millions of users spanning a variety of platforms.” (Czerwinski, Cutrell, Horvitz). They further say, “[t]he benefits of [IM] are numerous, including the ability to know when personal contacts are available, nearly instantaneous communication, and the ability to carry on several informal conversations at once.” (Czerwinski, Cutrell, Horvitz). Given my busy lifestyle IM allows the benefits of an email with the immediacy of a phone call all out of the comfort of a laptop.
IM is a combination of two forms of communication: email, and telephone. The aspects of an email contain no on the spot reaction, versus the aspects of a phone call where the response is immediate. Instant messaging is distinctive in that, at any given time one could feasibly hold an IM conversation with a classmate, a parent, a college/boss, and a friend living in Japan simultaneously. This medium allows for an office to hold its scheduled meeting even on a snow day. If a company has offices in different states they can have weekly meetings without paying for travel expenses. File sharing on instant messaging is similar to attaching a file in an email in that the file goes to the recipient. With instant messaging you have the option of saving files in a file sharing folder that the participants in the instant message have access to. Except that after composing and sending an email, there is a waiting period. Your message goes into cyberspace and uses principles similar to when a text is sent. The receiver has a choice; respond now, or wait until a more convenient time. In this age of immediacy, one might have several instant messages going at once, all while checking their personal email, reading a blog posting, and playing Word Path on Facebook. It is this instant response that makes IM individual and with IM the thought is that there is no waiting phase.
One might argue that instant messaging is an extension of the chat room, and the same may continue the argument that both are filled with the face of anonymity and veiled with deceit. For current communication techniques the IM is specific to those you invite or who have invited you. The façade of anonymity behind IM may seem appealing to some, while others view IM as a transparent form of contact. Given that much of our face to face communication is non-verbal, IM does lose some aspects of clarity. IM can have real world social implications that crate ‘real’ meaning, humor, and distinction within cyberspace. Even emotional reactions can be felt through IM in the form of acronyms, like LOL, ROTFL, and LMAO. Furthermore thoughts can be expressed once through IM and they do no have to be further explained, since IM is in readable form and can be reread. Ultimately there is no need to ask a question multiple times as could happen with a phone call, and again in the age of immediacy this appeals greatly.
Last week a fellow classmate and I were brainstorming over IM about an assignment, which led to file sharing and ultimately further collaboration on additional assignments. We were able to accomplish several tasks in one IM; out of that situation decisions were made, and projects finished. Given the same situation in a phone call, the conversation would have been longer as we would have read our assignments to each other, rather than opening the file and reading it ourselves.
The contexts in which IM is appropriate are limitless. One can IM with their mother, spouse, or boss, although the tone of the conversation will be specific to each. In particular when IM with a boss or coworker one would not use a smiley face emoticon, or acronyms, but it would be applicable when IM with a person who is in your close circle.
Social Networking site such as Facebook and Myspace have their own applications of IM, and these same principles are used by companies today with their own IM in specific workplace networks. IM has moved past the original technology of a combining a phone call and an email in that it was originally used only in social contexts, but has moved passed this thought into the corporate world who are now using this technology to facilitate work productivity in day to day operations. IM has morphed into something beyond its original idea of connection and today is seen as a time management tool.
Works cited
Czerwinski, Cutrell, Horvitz. (n.d.) Instant Messaging: Effects of Relevance and Timing. Retreived January 24, 2009 from, Microsoft http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/cutrell/HCI2k%20Instant%20Messaging.pdf
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