Class Hashtag: #Comm597
Topics
- Introduction to Twitter
- Twitter basics
- Using Twitter to establish a dialogue
Learning Outcomes
After completing this module, students should be able to:
- Identify and describe key microblogging (e.g. Twitter) features and functions; and
- Create effective written content that is appropriate for Twitter.
Required Readings
- Library eReading:
Masullo Chen, G. (2011). Tweet this: A uses and gratifications perspective on how active Twitter use gratifies a need to connect with others. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(2), 755–762. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2010.10.023
- Weblink:
Commoncraft. (n.d). Twitter in plain english [Video file]. Available from http://www.commoncraft.com/video/twitter
Weeks 1–3
Module 1:
Mining Big Data and Context Setting (Twitter) |
Sep 01: Join Twitter and follow instructors
Note that instructor handles are listed on cover page of the syllabus.
Sep 01: Introductory webinar from 6:00–6:30pm
A time to meet your course instructors and fellow students, review the course syllabus, and discuss course participation milestones.
Sep 04: Introductory Tweet (web participation) due by 11:55pm.
Post an Introductory Tweet with class hashtag #COMM597. Include information about who you are, why you are taking this class, etc.
Sep 18: Module 1 Reading Reflections (web participation) due by 11:55pm
Add a comment on our Module 1 posting—introduce yourself and share with us your thoughts on this Module's readings/video.
Sep 18: #SM on Twitter activity, due by 11:55pm.
Search #SM on Twitter, and peruse the 10-20 most recent tweets. Then, discuss what your search reveals in a comment on the class blog the #Hashtag Activity post, outlining the following :
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Hey Everyone!
ReplyDeleteMy name is Kaylee and I'm excited to be in this class. I am a 2015 cohort member and I work at NAIT in the department of Student Engagement.
I'm sure comments will start flowing in about some of the first readings, and I look forward to sharing ideas about the then, but I thought I would start us off with something in the first reading which surprised me. Gina Masullo Chen uses process gratification for the study in Tweet this: A uses and gratifications perspective on how active Twitter use gratifies a need to connect with others (2010). Chen states the difference between this and a content gratification focus is: "content gratifications where people derive value from the information in the media message, and process gratifications, where people gain from the experience of using media" (Chen, 2010).
So why does this surprise me?
I used Facebook several years ago, and many of my peers relied heavily on Facebook for the experience in the media. The social interaction, multiple uses, and socialization with friends was important to them. In my personal experience, I turned to Twitter not because of the process gratification, but for content gratification, as I found the information to be more relevant, immediate instead of occurring in the past, and more informative because I initially followed news broadcasters, alternative media sources and educators who had course content.
Because of my experience, I found it interesting that my motivation for the use of Twitter was not the gratification of intrinsic social needs found in relationship building, but solely for informative purposes.
Hi Kaylee. Thanks for your comment. Great to hear that you are working in the field of student engagement; social media and other online tools can help you reach your target audience. What tools do you currently use?
ReplyDeleteAnd Kaylee, I think you're right about Twitter. Facebook engenders a different kind of use, that process gratification; that's precisely why it was created. Twitter, on the other hand, is all about finding and sorting information; lists, RT, favourites, etc....it definitely falls on the content gratification side. Of course, Chen wrote this article in 2010 which illustrates how platforms can be tweaked and refined for certain kinds of uses in a relatively short time-frame. There is a difference too between users, some might use Twitter in more of a content gratification while others rely on it for process gratification. And with the advent of mobile, that too changes how we use technology. Think about these findings from a recent paper by Han, Min and Lee: "Using Twitter as a target site, we find that even in the context of Twitter, whose content-related functions have received more attention than those related to social connections, the gratification of social connection needs plays an important role in sustaining use. Grounded on firm theoretical reasoning, our study argues that the gratification of social connection needs is engendered by social presence and this social presence is then formed by immediacy- and intimacy-related aspects of SNS created by both technology and other users. We further demonstrate that these relationships can differ among mobile users and desktop users. Given that SNS and their use on mobile devices have become a prevalent phenomenon in communicating with people, our findings can provide useful guidance for exploring how social technology can help users fulfill their most basic human needs."
You have access to this article via your UAlberta login: Antecedents of social presence and gratification of social connection needs in SNS: A study of Twitter users and their mobile and non-mobile usage.
Hi Jessica,
ReplyDeleteWe coordinate several programs in our department, and each uses different social media and online tools to connect. I am actually in the process of forming a communication strategy for each individual program, and aligning them as engagement programs. I have most recently begun exploring our Women in Technology and Trades tools as my primary focus, as we are using Twitter and Facebook already, without a formal communication strategy (ROGUE!).
Thank you for the more recent article! I think the uses of social media platforms do, and have changed over time. Even the use of Facebook, while continuously used for process gratification, the audience of it has changed dramatically. It would be interesting to understand if the type of gratification influences the type of user or if the user influences the type of gratification? If people had begun using Facebook for news rather than social connections, what would the tool look like?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHello all, I’m Kathlyn and I'm a 2015 cohort member!
ReplyDeleteKaylee, interesting thoughts! I would agree that while Twitter can provide significant content gratification, it may be lacking in process gratification, which meets a social need. My experience has been the opposite of yours. I have long been a Facebook user, and have resisted getting Twitter, mostly because I figured that if I became 'addicted' to another social media site, I would waste even more time online (maybe I lack self control…). However, I see the value of Twitter, and perhaps think it has more lasting value in regards to staying informed and receiving content than that of Facebook. It's interesting how one's motive for using social media directs where most of one’s online ‘connecting’ takes place.
In the video, "Twitter in Plain English" the narrator describes Carla's experience becoming a Twitter user. He shares: "Little messages on Twitter painted a picture of her (Carla's) friends, family, and coworkers that she'd never seen before" (Commoncraft, n.d.). To me, this is precisely what has turned me off of the idea of Twitter. I tend to be a cynic about people who present a specific version of themselves online that may not be apparent (or true) in real life. I often question people’s motives for sharing online, and find that I don't want updates about every moment of their life. I'd rather experience my friends, family, and coworkers in person. The Commoncraft video presents Twitter to be largely of the purpose of process gratification, though I would tend to think its better use is for content gratification.
Though I am new to Twitter, and currently only follow my classmates, I realize the value it can have. Already, I've been exposed to various articles and news items that have been quite educational and informative. I can see how useful it can be for one's work (like keeping NAIT students informed!), and how it doesn’t have to revolve around what a person is eating, watching, or doing. Maybe I am yet to become a Twitter convert!
I also belong to the 2015 cohort. I’ve worked in a marketing capacity for nearly eight years and online marketing for five.
ReplyDeleteI too was surprised by the concept of process gratification, but when I think about it that's how I got my start on Twitter five years ago. I, like many, initially started an account then promptly ignored it. I picked it up again a year later after hearing all the buzz and thinking it could help with marketing my insurance brokerage. I didn't really know where to begin. I started by seeing if I could teach myself how to gain followers since I didn’t know what to tweet and didn’t think anybody would be interested in what I had to say. By using the site every day I became more familiar with it and eventually learned how to use it to connect with others.
After two months of tweeting everyday I still didn't know what Twitter was. Back then there weren’t people explaining it the way they do now. It didn't click for me until a month and a half into getting followers I received a phone call from someone wanting to meet with me to discuss their insurance needs. I was shocked because in my insurance business I had to work to bring clients in. Until that moment they never came to me. When I asked how she heard about me, she replied by saying she had been following me on Twitter. From then on I made it my duty to understand what Twitter was, how to use it, and eventually teach others to use it as well.
It was through developing a process of gaining followers that I became familiar with the platform and started establishing meaningful relationships. However, gratification of the need to connect with others happened for me through both process gratification and content gratification. Nowhere else can you get such a condensed and comprehensive list of current event articles as with Twitter. I connect with others through sharing content and having conversations about it.
Further to the findings of Han, Min and Lee with regard to mobile use, through Twitter people can connect as eye witnesses to current events on the ground as they are happening. Having that shared experience deepens the connection among users. At the MACT Spring Institute I used the example of using Twitter as a bridge during the 2013 Alberta floods. Twitter was a great tool to connect volunteers with people who needed help.
Hi everyone! My name is Sareda and I’m actually in my third year of the Master in Public Health program at U of A (zero background in communications!). I’m interested in learning about social media as I want to be able to integrate it more into public health initiatives.
ReplyDeleteThe required readings for this module introduced me to a whole new world! I would agree with Kathryn and Kaylee about their thoughts on Twitter -- that it’s definitely content gratification and less so process gratification. My participation in social media has been limited to Facebook and Instagram (Instagram is a social network where people share photos and videos). I never found Twitter to be interesting, but can see the value in staying informed in current events (after my first few tweets, I have found that 140 characters goes quickly!). I guess I've always been one for process gratification.
Chen (2011) found that the number of tweets is a significant predictor of gratification. I think it would be interesting to know if/how many of those tweets were re-tweeted and/or liked and/or commented on. Personally, I’ve noticed myself moving away from Facebook and am using Instagram more, perhaps because there’s a sense of instant connection/gratification. I wonder if as more people take action/respond to tweets, the person who posted it feels more engaged. This might be one reason why I keep active on Instagram. This brings me to the point in Chen’s article that resonated with me: “People today must be even choosier than in the past to select a medium that meets their needs because they have more media choices.” I wouldn’t say I need the approval of people, but the fact that people (friends and strangers alike) care about the pictures I post/my experiences and like it, I guess means something to me. It also helps that a lot of my friends are active on Instagram
HI Everyone I'm Jan Martin and I'm finding this class very fun. In my word-a-day-world I'm employed in the oil and gas industry in Marketing Communications. I'me very hopeful that what up to now has been a foreign language (social media) will become commonplace vernacular.
ReplyDeleteI may be putting this post in the wrong place however...
I looked up #SM and the most recent tweets want to send you to a website that will help you improve the content, likability and followers of your social media sites. #Hashtag Activity post, outlining the following :
● What do you notice? There are lot of 'experts' in the field.
Is there anything surprising - yes, it seems like its a giant advertising page and not somewhere where someone would go who was searching for advice.
● Who is tweeting? Entrepreneurs, small business people trying to cash in on their advice to newbies.
● Are there any recurring topics? Yes, Social Media Insights
● Are there citations/links to other sources? Yes, a lot of links to people's websites.
● Do many tweets include (links to) images or videos?. Yes, there was two photos - but no links to videos.
Crap - it posted rather than run the spell check. That is a Work - a - day - world ...but word a day is a kind of funny mistake...
ReplyDeleteHi everyone, I’m Rachelle and I’m with the 2015 cohort. I currently work in Human Services as a Career & Employment Consultant, but unfortunately social media is quiet limited, actually non-existent in my role. I’m hoping to learn different ways I can implement social media into my work to enhance communication.
ReplyDeleteI to am a newbie to Twitter and feel like it may take some time for me to grasp it fully. I’ve enjoyed the conversation on process vs. content gratification. I have always assumed that a social media site is just another social media site and that they all offer the same thing. Due to this, I have always stuck with Facebook, simply because it was the first of its kind and all my connections are on it. I recently joined Instagram and my main motivation for doing so was because I could sync it with my Facebook account. My tendency to use Facebook stayed strong as I have a bigger network on that site and get more responses and posts from it. The more activity I have the more connected I feel, a measurement Chen (2011) uses for her study on Twitter. As my network grows on Instagram, I noticed that I have been segmented who is on what network and basing the content of my posts to those categories. With my brief introduction to Twitter, I can see that it can provide me with a news/educational network
Hi everyone, I'm in the 2012 MACT cohort and have really enjoyed the programme! This social media course is very applicable to some parts of my work at the University of Alberta because it is helping me to better map out new communications streams.
ReplyDeleteLooking at our first module on mining big data and context setting, I would agree with what many have said here about Twitter being more content gratification. But somewhat surprisingly, Chen actually appears to focus on Twitter as a process gratification (p756)! It seems very interesting Chen's Twitter research focused on the period 2006 - 2010; before Twitter started allowing photos to be streamed. So we can imagine that questions about connectivity on Twitter might have different answers after pictures are allowed.
The Commoncraft video made me laugh... what a great example of simple tools having big impact. The question 'what are you doing now?' answered by millions of people, ends up generating a lot of data, but not inherently generating connections, the users of Twitter generate the connectivity.
I agree with Han et al (2015) that Twitter can provide a level of gratification of social connection (p 467) especially now that the producers/users/produsers are improving our metadata tagging with hashtags. For me, Twitter now brings visual, immediate, and searchable data... even though I feel like I'm still learning the ropes!!
Links:
http://mashable.com/2011/08/09/twitter-photo-sharing-all/#oGzmYmG1B8kx
http://blog.hootsuite.com/pic-twitter-publishing-option/