Monday, December 6, 2010
Amanda - Practicum
Last week's lecture on computing and location was very much related to my practicum project on Twitter. While in the late 1980s and 1990s, mobile technology made public space private by allowing people to hold private conversations in public spaces, in the new millennium, mobile technology became a place for promotion and networked human interaction. In "How to Recognize the Future When it Lands on You", Rheingold discusses the concept of "smart mobs" - a group of people carrying devices that have communication and computing capabilities. Smart mobs have real time collaboration and can connect without even knowing each other. This definition of "smart mobs" seems to fit nicely into Twitter's model. When someone joins Twitter, they immediately have the ability to connect with a seemingly infinite number of people; friends, athletes, celebrities, companies. It is interesting to think of Twitter members as a giant mob because news can spread so quickly through Twitter, and Twitter certainly makes mobile technology a place for human interaction; of course, that is the whole point of the site. It's amazing to take a step back and look at how something like Twitter has impacted our society. During the 90s, it's unlikely that anyone would have thought that something like Twitter would be as revolutionary as it is. While we once sought to carry our private lives with us on our mobile devices, now most of us seek to use mobile technology to connect with everyone, even people we don't know. Ten times as many people are on Twitter this year than were this time last year. It will be interesting to see how many more people join Twitter and if it will become an even more mainstream form of communication.
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I think it's really interesting that you say that in the 90s people wouldn't have thought that Twitter would have the potential that it has shown in the past few years. I started using Twitter at the beginning of last year because I was curious about it and also had to deactivate Facebook, so I figured I'd try something new. Even still, when I profess my love for Twitter, people who don't use it say it's a stupid idea. I think, however, what draws a lot of people to Twitter is actually giving it a try. Forcing yourself to check it (combined with following people who suit your interests) makes people realize, through practice, what a valuable tool it can be for connecting with others, as well as finding out a multitude of information related to a variety of topics.
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