I think these two statements are on the mark:
> I see the 'micro blog' not at a sharing of information but the
> fulfillment of a basic human need to connect at a simple level
> have our/their existence acknowledged.
> I use it to stay in steadier, yet more casual contact with friends
> who live in other states (real friends, not just "socialware friends").
Here's my view.
Microblogging is part of online social networking. I believe that the use of
social networks, such as Orkut, MySpace, and Facebook, and their microblogging
cousins, such as Twitter, are a response to the impersonal nature of our very
large cities and to the vast geographic distances between small towns. Either
way, it's a response to the physical space between us and the people we know.
According to anthropologists, the ideal village size is 200-300 people, or
100-500, depending on whom you believe. That's the number of people of whom a
typical human can keep track -- the people we know well, the people we know
casually, the people we know we've seen before, and so on -- a villageful.
Now, blend the idea of a physical village with that of an online social
network.
With the advent of wireless technology, we get to take our village with
us. It started with mobile phones. Then Web 2.0, which allowed us to post
content and interact with and react to posted content. Also, the lines between
handheld/wireless device and Internet/computer blurred. The result is that
physical constraints, geography, and (to a degree) time zones are no longer an
issue between the people in our personal, online villages.
Instead of looking out the window and seeing you walk by, in town, I look
in Facebook and see you "walk by" there. Facebook tells me that you did this,
you looked at that, you liked this movie, you joined that group, etc, etc.
Wireless adds to this, since we can use our mobile phones to send
SMS/text-messages to Twitter (or a similar service), which then updates
Facebook or other social network.
As in a physical village, you're more connected or more involved with some
people than with others. Similarly in an online "social network" you'll find
that you talk or share with some people often, and others seldom.
Social networks fill the human need to connect.
To some degree, there is a behavioural difference, in that we have to
consciously push updates at Twitter, Facebook, etc. Some products help automate
this, such as Microsoft Communicator (is that its name?) which automatically
tells my colleagues when I'm busy by looking at the meetings in my Outlook
Calendar. And that's OK, because if my colleagues walked by my office, they
would see that I'm "Busy". Why shouldn't my remote colleagues get the same
benefit?
The younger generation, born after 1980-ish and sometimes called
Generation Y, are more comfortable with this technology, perhaps because their
youth makes them reckless about privacy. Generation X is a bit more reserved,
but shares freely their opinions of products and services (e.g. movies). The
Boomers are late to the party, but arriving in larger numbers every day -- many
of them dragged onto Facebook by their kids or grandkids. And groups of all
ages are likely more open online than in person.*
All this is my theory. Other people might say this is just a fad and this
is just about entertainment -- and they could be right.
-=- Jerome
* From a study on workplace communication, titled "The Impact Of Group Size And
Social Presence On Small-Group Communication: Does Computer-Mediated
Communication Make A Difference?" by Lowry et al, in Small Group Research,
volume 37 number 6, December 2006.
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