Cereal not with milk, but with Twitter

Isn't this all too familiar? Gadgets have sort of become our newspaper in a way. In the sense that we normally flip the newspaper to get breaking news first thing in the morning, accompanied by our waffles and hot coffee. But instead, what we can see now is people swiping over their iPads and smartphones at breakfast. Yes, we do read the newspaper with our gadgets but since convergence has made everything possible, we multi-task as well. And that's where you get massive Tweets.

Now, I don't know much about the culture of Tweeting b/c I don't have a personal Twitter account. Like the author of the reading this week, Steven Johnson, I was skeptical and doubtful of this 140-character innovation. Despite many talented figures - Yasmin Ahmad - having an account, my impression was that this wasn't a necessity. But 'How Twitter Will Change The Way We Live' proved me otherwise. I mean really, how can one be so detailed yet summarized in a 140-character space? Hats off to you awesome Twitterers.

Some of the key points!

Ambient awareness 

You get a quick peak at people's daily life through Tweets without even asking!

A jury-rigged system

Twitter has created an improvisation. It's no longer what Twitter is doing to us, but what we Twitterzens are doing to it.

The Open Conversation

Hop right into the bandwagon by inserting the oh-so-famous hashtag #. There's a bunch of popular hastags like:

Here's where a larger pool of audience join in together to contribute to a bigger picture of an issue! The more the merrier! The more opinion and feedbacks we get, the more solid a discussion is. Through Twitter, with the collective hastags, a private exchange is now open for anyone and everyone. All these Tweets will come together to build a bridge of pebbles.

The Super-Fresh Web

In class, we have learnt that the super-fresh web operates on being the first in line, scalable and have a short feedback loop. How Twitter is these is that it always gives us the fresh and valuable of a slice of life or a big event. Need assistance of an example?

Those who were confined at home (by our parents) glued themselves to Twitter to get the lives updates of the Bersih 2.0 Rally. The current progression, the acid attacks and the people involved information were received in mere seconds.

It's true that Twitter is a super-fresh web because it possess a short feedback loops, meaning to say that I wouldn't need to wait for weeks for a reply like the snail mail method. In fact, when there's new Tweets or a reply, a notification will appear. You can already see the trace of this element in FB and even from before, in Friendster and MySpace.

Need anything that's urban and relevant? Head on to Twitter then! With just a search box, what you search is what you get. In fact sooner or later, every major channel of communication will be Twitterfied! Why?

• News & Opinions

I like to think that with Twitter, comes your own personalized newspaper. See, you only follow the people that you want to, it's your own account, you're entitled to who you would want to follow. Naturally, we'd follow the accounts of people whom share the similar interests or we follow celebrities or politicians that we worships. Meaning to say, we get what we only like. Hence, a customized newspaper that would go just nice with your bagels.

Searching

We've already understand that Twitter provides valuable extended field of information - attachments of link, articles, pictures etc. If we are in need of any information regarding the Harry Potter casts' lives after the finale, we can just head on over to Emma Watson's Twitter to get a sneak preview. Because we are already an avid fan of Harry Potter and we follow the characters' Tweets, getting information pertinent to Harry Potter would be easier!

Advertising

Yes, you saw that right. Twitter is linked to Advertising is because firstly, take a look at all the big shot companies, they all have a Twitter or Facebook account. Why? Because it's a trend, it's people's daily bible. In doing so, there would be a new language of interaction between the company and the customers when early discount or limited edition products are offered to those followers and also it provides a hip and engaging banter between the two.

End-User Innovation

Why is it labelled as an innovation? It's because a new medium of communication has arrived in the form of Tweeting. Everyone Tweets an island and these islands would cross section with even more islands from around the world, differing in social classes and backgrounds. 

End-users have been creative enough to try to figure a way beyond the 140-characters. There's roadblocks but there's also a way around it. Twitterzens modify the tool and out comes blessed innovations that allow us to search, to #, to advertise and so on! This innovation is such due to the fact Twitterzens know how to modify Twitter and adapt it into their own daily life.

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How is Twitter related to citizen journalism is that Twitter provides a platform for collective intelligence and participatory culture. From my understanding, when you follow several common interest Twitterzens, you get a wider prospect of information. You get to see different views and thinking, and then to come to your own decision. 

That being, you too become a citizen journalist when you take the information, do some research and then share it along to YOUR own followers. Collective intelligence then continues. We also use this modern media platform to publish news unfiltered to be enjoyed by mass audience. We participate to contribute to the collectivism of information in networks.

It's just you, me, everyone, Twitter. And also, yes, our cereals.

Tweeting an island yet? Maybe I should start doing so.


But one thing always keeps me wondering, will all the mass irrelevant and nonsense Tweets cause useless information avalanche? Or simply, is this just another mind-your-own-business-these-are-my-Tweets case?