Emoticons & social media: fun or nonsense?

In the previous blog you could read about the bunch of people who are already using social media. I explained the purpose of twitter and a lot of people using it the right way. According to Winkwaves and the University of Malaysia something is still missing. They are investigating the possibilities of using ‘emoticons’ on twitter.

They have invented Tweeticon. You can still post short messages, but you can choose an emotion which represents how you are feeling. They have created twenty-two basic emotions. They will appear in words and as an avatar, as you can see in the picture below.



Isn’t this a bit exaggerated you would think? Ofcourse, it is fun to add an emotion, but if you read the posts carefully it has to be clear which emotion overrules? A happy text can easily be understand. However, there are a few advantages of using emoticons. So far, the research has shown that social media can be used for expressing your emotions in words. By defining your emotions, it appears that people are more aware of what they are saying. Before they send the message, they think about the emotion they are feeling. The online communication gets better this way. People who add an emotion to their tweet, think about the opinion of other people. ‘If I say I am sad, what will other people think’? People have the tendency to give a more positive emotion to their message. One would not be associated with negative emotions.

I am not yet convinced of the advantages of using emotions on Twitter, but the research continues. I am curious what the end results will be. What do you think?

The pub called twitter

When I start using twitter, a few months ago, I did not understand the advantages of twitter or actually I did not understand how to use twitter. Although twitter is becoming more popular these days, twitter already arose in 2006. More than 25 million people are using twitter, there has to be a big advantage of using twitter. What is the power of twitter and how do you have to use it?

First, I thought the purpose was sharing what you are doing with your friends. That is similar like the function: ‘who, what, where’ on Hyves. I was enthusiastically twittering about all the things I was doing. When I used twitter more and more I found out it was more than socializing with your friends.
A few days ago I was on a birthday party and the subject we were talking about was twitter. ‘I think people who start using twitter, use it the wrong way, said someone. I wondered what the right way of using twitter was. ‘Well, first of all you do not twitter about what you have done, but what you are going to do or are doing’ she said. Therefore, twitter is up-to-date.

‘Twitter is always and everywhere sharing information’, said Erwin Blom, one of the first ‘twitteraars’. I like the idea of sharing information, but the idea of always and everywhere is a bit scary if you take this literally. This means that you take your computer or phone always with you and that you always have to check your twitter account. Luckily for me Erwin Blom gave another example: Twitter is like a pub, where you can always find acquaintances. You can chose with whom you will talk (who do you follow) and when. I think this is a big advantage of twitter. It is personal and you can use it the way you want to. You can use it to talk with your friends, following actors or use it for commercial reasons.
You have to be careful what you put online. Sharing your information means that it is public. I made a mistake: I had protected my tweets, but this makes sharing information a bit difficult. ( Thank you for telling me this D;-) ). Therefore, my tweets can now be read by anyone. I am a bit careful what to put online, because even Google knows what I am saying.

Yet, the power of twitter is big and becomes bigger every day. It has not only a big influence on the media (news via twitter), but on the marketing too. Companies can use different marketing strategies these days. Social media and marketing becomes more popular. I hope to tell you about this, in the next blog.

Read more about twitter:
www.erwinblom.nl
Or the twitter manual:
http://jeanetbathoorn.wordpress.com/2009/05/18/twitter-handleiding-12-belangrijke-tips/#more-402

By the way: Did you know there is a ‘twitter guide’? This is a list categorized on different subjects. After you have chosen your subject, you find a list with people connected too that subject. If you search well, you will find interesting people.

Eline

How do blogger & twitter works?

How do blogger & twitter works? This is only one of the questions I will try to answer during the course 'Media use in organisations'.
Nowadays, a lot of people and companies use twitter and write blogs.

In the next few weeks I will blog about the latest trends on digital media. What is new and interesting?

First I will start with learning more about twitter. Maybe this website will help me...



I hope you enjoy reading my weblog & please feel free to leave a comment!
( Tips about twitter are welcome too)