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R. Trebor Scholz | @trebors What the hell does micro-blogging have to do with the agora or futurism?

Micro-Blogging, Futurism, and the Agora

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Page 1: Micro-Blogging, Futurism, and the Agora

R. Trebor Scholz | @trebors

What the hell does micro-blogging have to do with the agora or futurism?

Page 2: Micro-Blogging, Futurism, and the Agora

The agora (Greek: Ἀγορά, Agorá) was a central spot in ancient Greek city-states. The literal meaning of the word is "gathering place" or

"assembly". The agora was the center of athletic, artistic, spiritual and political life of the city.[1] The Ancient Agora of Athens was the best-known

example, birthplace of democracy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agora

Page 3: Micro-Blogging, Futurism, and the Agora

Is writing status updates a waste of time? What are the disadvantages and opportunities of

engaging in online conversations and sharing practices?

What are some reasons for the popularity of Twitter?

Are novels passé? Do even email, videos on

Vimeo, and IM take up too much time now?

Which way of using Twitter worked best for you?

How can micro-blogging help you to distribute your

ideas?

How does the way we relate to others differ on Twitter

and Facebook?

Questions

Page 4: Micro-Blogging, Futurism, and the Agora

Overview Twitter and the Futurist Manifesto

Why Does Micro-Blogging Matter?

How Twitter Came To Be

Twitter Anatomy

Twitter Desktop Clients

How Do People Use Twitter?

Twitter in the Organization/in Education

Twitter as a Citizen News-Wire?

Twitter, War, Catastrophe

Search

Twitter Assignment

Page 5: Micro-Blogging, Futurism, and the Agora

Micro-Blogging and the Futurist Manifesto

Page 6: Micro-Blogging, Futurism, and the Agora

The Manifesto of Futurism

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1909)

youth, technology, speed

“Look at us! We are not out of breath, our hearts are not in the least tired. For

they are nourished by fire, hatred and speed! Does this surprise you? it is because

you do not even remember being alive! Standing on the world's summit, we launch

once more our challenge to the stars!”

The Futurist Manifesto

Page 7: Micro-Blogging, Futurism, and the Agora

Why Does Micro-Blogging Matter?

Page 8: Micro-Blogging, Futurism, and the Agora

selected from: http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2009/01/04/chronicle_hlp.html#comment52073

howardowens: "Twitter is a salon in 140 characters."

uchicagolaw: Twitter allows us to give prospective students a bite-sized glimpse into what life here is like.

memoirgirl: "Now I'm not just funny to myself."

calixte: "I use my Cognitive Surplus to do some Mindcasting, using the ultimate Blip Machine: Twitter."

dangillmor: "Twitter is a current (and sometimes early) warning and gossip system, with occasional insight and frequent amusement."

tiffanyvonemmel: "Twitter is how I meet with busy people. It replaces email. At academic conferences, I use Twitter to demonstrate the performative turn of knowledge."

DW: "Twitter is my shared notepad. If I want to remember something and I don't mind if everyone else knows it, I just post it here."

HarryWaisbren: "I find twitter useful to engage journalists, bloggers, and academics casually whereas within other mediums they would resist."

ryansholin: "Twitter is a connection engine that costs nothing. No bar tab, no conference registration, no commitment. Just 140 characters."

What they say about Twitter

Page 9: Micro-Blogging, Futurism, and the Agora

Why Does Micro-Blogging Matter? (A Preliminary List)

• Inconspicuous way of staying in touch with the passions and obsessions of your friends,

colleagues, and experts. What are they paying attention to right now (short messages and also

photos)?

• Update people on what you are writing on your blog

• Social capital, “The Strength of Weak Ties” (Granovetter, 1973)

• Live search: abbreviated live-blogging of a group.

Twitter as live-version of social bookmarking services like Delicious-- ask questions

• Art (i.e, Jenny Holzer, Joseph Kosuth)

• Twitter as news-wire and citizen journalism.

• Citizen volunteerism and fundraising: (i.e., Twestival)

Page 10: Micro-Blogging, Futurism, and the Agora

Why Does Micro-Blogging Matter? (A Preliminary List)

• File sharing

(with the help of services like http://www.acamin.com/ you can share files up to 15 MB)

• Event live micro-blogging, 140 characters at a time

(i.e., group of people covering simultaneous sessions at a conference)

• Informal social learning (acculturating into communities of practice, evidence of learning

process, shareable teaching, reach beyond classroom, access to information becomes access to

people who know, self-organized communities). Examples: surgery

• Post-disaster relief (i.e, Mumbai bombings, Gustav)

• Increase intra-organizational linkages, connection to larger community and transparency

(i.e., universities, U.S. State Department)

Page 11: Micro-Blogging, Futurism, and the Agora

How Twitter Came To Be

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Attention and Media

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Making a More “Live” LiveJournal

http://flickr.com/photos/jackdorsey/182613360/

jack dorsey

May 31st, 2000

“One night in July of that year I had an idea to make

a more "live" LiveJournal. Real-time, up-to-date, from

the road. Akin to updating your AIM status from

wherever you are, and sharing it. For the next 5 years,

I thought about this concept and tried to silently

introduce it into my various projects.

The 6th year; the idea has finally solidified .... and taken a

novel form. We're calling it twttr (though this original

rendering calls it stat.us; I love the word.ed domains,

e.g. gu.st). “

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http://flickr.com/photos/jackdorsey/182614595/in/photostream/

First Tweet

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http://www.amazon.com/Six-Word-Memoirs-Love-Heartbreak-Writers/dp/0061714623

For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn. -Ernest Hemingway

Page 16: Micro-Blogging, Futurism, and the Agora

Words, Words, Words

twitterific

dweet (tweet sent while drunk)

twead (reading a twitter post)

tweeple

tweeps (peeps on Twitter)

tweetaholism

tweetheart not to be mistaken with tweetard

tweetUp (Twitter users meet in person)

twibute (to pay tribute to someone)

twirting (flirting on Twitter)

twitch (when you twitter a typo)

“How to win friends and twinfluence people?”

Page 17: Micro-Blogging, Futurism, and the Agora

Twitter Anatomy

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Twitter in Plain Englishhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o

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The Anatomy of Twitter

Replies(public)

URL shortening (for link sharing)

Retweet(Your clever words passed on by dozens of people)

Direct Messages (not public, used by 25% of users)

“Tweets” (can’t edit, 140 characters)

RT

D

@

Trends“followers”“following” (start with 15-20)

#

TwitPic

Page 20: Micro-Blogging, Futurism, and the Agora

Read your feeds on Twitter.com?

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Twitter Desktop Clients

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http://www.tweetdeck.com/beta/

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For useful responses to frequently asked questions about Tweetdeck also see:http://www.richardbarley.com/2009/02/22/all-your-tweetdeck-questions-answered/

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http://friendfeed.com/

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-Buzz Group Break-

What question would you most like to have answered regarding the topic of the lecture today?

Of all ideas and points you have heard so far today, which is the most obscure or ambiguous to you?

What is the most contentious statement you heard in the lecture so far?

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How Do People Use Twitter?

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http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10159054-2.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

“For security reasons, the congressional delegation led by House Minority Leader John Boehner to Iraq today was supposed to be secret. Everything had been going fine in that regard. Even media outlets that knew of the trip, like the

Congressional Quarterly, kept a lid on the news.

That was, until Rep. Peter Hoekstra twittered his arrival into Baghdad. "Just landed in Baghdad. I believe it may be first time I've had bb

service in Iraq. 11th trip here," he sent from his BlackBerry. “

US Diplomats Start Twittering, ...

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http://tweetcongress.org/

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http://twitter.com/CSIState

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Erykah Badu twitters her child birth "This f*cking hurts like hell!"

"I'm gonna kill this doctor if he does't get this thing out of me."

"Why isn't Andre 3000 here yet?"

Page 31: Micro-Blogging, Futurism, and the Agora

http://twestival.com/

“Do this TODAY:

1. Read 5 Ways to Help Twestival Raise $1 Million, then go to http://4charitymate.com and give what you can

2. Attend your local Twestival event. (check http://Twestival.com) Have fun and donate again

3. Tweet to let your followers know it’s Twestival day

4. Post a blog, Facebook Note, MySpace Bulletin or whatever you can

5. Mail to your mailing list.. tell them all how important Twesitval is to the world

6. Leave a comment here so we can share your blog post with others”

Page 33: Micro-Blogging, Futurism, and the Agora

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/health/2009/02/16/cohen.twittering.in.the.or.cnn

Twittering Surgery

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http://twitter.com/MarsPhoenix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLzSgtG29is

Daniel Schorr (91) starts to twitter.Twitter reminds him of the Agora, which was an open "place of assembly," a market place in ancient Greece (900s–700s BCE).

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Twitter in the OrganizationEngage or Die!

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•Learn what people say about you and join that conversation

•Find experts in your field on Twellow.com or Twitter Search

•What do they think about your organization?

•Twitter as possibility for creating intellectual community.

•Organizational: quick way to point to problems.

•Of course, it only works if people make an effort to use it.

Twitter in the Organization

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http://twuffer.com/home

Twuffer allows the Twitter user to compose a list of future tweets, and schedule their release. You can tweet hourly/daily/monthly announcements.

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http://www.tweetlater.com/

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• Chat with your professor or other students after class

• Collaborate on a project. Start a conversation thread.

• In-class back channel

•Follow the tweets of professionals

• Share your teaching resources beyond the class room

Twitter in Education

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Twitter as Citizen News-Wire?

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A Few Places to Start

Nicholas Kristof (NYT) @nytimeskristof

Associated Press @associatedpress

Breaking News Alerts@BreakingNewsOn

New York Times@nytimes

Brian Lehrer WNYC@BrianLehrer

Wired@wired

Washington Post@washingtonpost

A Few People

Howard Rheingold@hrheingold

Page 44: Micro-Blogging, Futurism, and the Agora

“There's a plane in the Hudson.

I'm on the ferry going to pick up the people. Crazy,”

J Krums in a 3:50 p.m.

TwitPic.com

Faster than Associate Press (AP)

(i.e., BBC follows Twitter to stay on top of events)

- PRO: In several instances Twitter received updates faster than TV or news websites: new outlet for citizen journalism - CON: Unreliable sources

US Airways Flight 1549, January 15 2009

The event was also caught on video; the footage was uploaded to Youtube. In addition, hundreds of photos were added to Flickr.

Page 45: Micro-Blogging, Futurism, and the Agora

http://search.twitter.com/search?q=dweinberger+superbowl

David Weinberger twitters the Superbowl (@dweinberger) also search for #TwitterBowl

Sports Reporting

Page 46: Micro-Blogging, Futurism, and the Agora

Twitter, War, and Catastrophe

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Twitter as tool for war reporting http://labs.aljazeera.net/warongaza/main

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“‘Grenade attack in Colaba market,’

read a Twitter message from a user named Abhishek Baxi last Wednesday.

Then a few minutes later. ‘Blast outside Oberoi Hotel in South Mumbai.’

A few years ago, sane people would have still argued that the whole point of taking your time with reporting a story is so that you have a chance to synthesize facts, evaluate your sources, double-check and get your story straight.” - David Sarno

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2008/12/mumbai-news-fis.html

Insta-Reporting the Mumbai BombingsDecember 2, 2008

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http://gustavtracker.appspot.com/

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SearchFrom access to information to access to knowledgeable people

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tweetgrid.com

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http://search.twitter.com/

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Twitter Assignment

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1) Write a 140 characters explanation of Twitter and post it to Twitter.

2) Write a fictitious (or real) love letter in no more than 140 characters.

3) Write a real (or fictitious) breakup Twitter post.

4) How can Twitter be used in class? Suggest how we could make use of Twitter in class. Post your idea to Twitter.

5) Comment on a current political event, add a link.

Twitter AssignmentDue date February 26 (before class):

- Create a Twitter account.

- Twitter at least sporadically until the end of the semester.

Page 55: Micro-Blogging, Futurism, and the Agora

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/%27Unique_Forms_of_Continuity_in_Space%27%2C_1913_bronze_by_Umberto_Boccioni.jpg

Umberto Boccioni, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space (1913)

Page 56: Micro-Blogging, Futurism, and the Agora

ThanksTrebor [email protected]

Twitter: @trebors

Page 57: Micro-Blogging, Futurism, and the Agora