Chapter 4: Microblogging: Write Small, Think Big
Image by Getty Images via @daylife
Microblogging recently exploded in popularity along with Twitter, a microblogging website where users can post updates of their ideas or events in 140 characters. It is easy to post or follow on microblogging and the contents can be used in many ways: by email, mobile device, etc. Using Briggs’s analogy, if blogging started as an online journal, microblogging started as an instant messaging journal. Microblogging includes Internet Relay Chat (IRC), Short Messaging Services (SMS) and Instant Messaging (IM).
Why is it so popular?
Anyone can write 140 characters to broadcast their own news. While the space is very limited, the users try to pack as much information as possible. Easier posting also leads to more frequent posting and ambient intimacy — which is constant connection without direct communication
Why is it important?
Image via Wikipedia
- Emergence as an important tool — users can provide important updates to the large pool of audience within seconds.
- Effective medium for breaking news — users can post updates at the moment the news are happening.
- Crowdsourcing and building community — followers build communities with common interest.
- Marketing and building your brand — microblogging enhances marketability of journalism.
Start Using Twitter
Some terms and jargons to go over:
- DM: Direct message
- @: For a reply, it precedes the Twitter ID
- RT: Retweet
- Hashtag: A label to categorize the tweet into a certain topic (ex. #weather)
It is not hard to tweet. Twitter accommodates following activites:
- Post: Just post anything in 140-character limit.
- Read: Read the messages posted by those who you follow.
- Reply: Reply to posts that interests you.
- Direct messages: Send a direct message to communicate privately with another twitter user.
The most important part of Twitter is to build your own network. First, search keywords of your interest. Browse through posts and find the ones that interest you. Follow those who posted them, and post your own news, too. Promote those who you follow. For more keyword searches, in addition to http://search.twitter.com, try Twellow.com and TwitDir.com to search for people.
Making people follow you is quite a different story. You have to contribute and promote those who you follow, and use your blogs and other materials that can promote yourself. As Sarah Evans notes, “Twitter is all about Karma. The more good you put out there, the more you receive.”
