IRP-使用twitter的媒体作用.docx

CONTENTS
CONTENTS 1
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 2
ABSTRACT 3
1 BACKGROUND 4
2 THE CHARACTERISTICS OF TWITTER 4
2.1 WHAT MICRO-BLOGGING MEANS? 4
2.2 TWITTER’S SOCIAL NETWORK SYSTEM 5
2.3 THE PROCESS OF INFORMATION DISSEMINATION 6
2.4 THE FEATURES OF TWITTER AS MEDIA 6
3 THE ROLE TWITTER PLAY AS MEDIA 8
3.1 TWITTER USED AS TRADITIONAL MEDIA 8
3.2 TWITTER AS ADVERTISING MEDIA 8
3.3 TWITTER AGAINST NEWS BLACKOUT 8
4 PERSONAL VIEW PUBLICATION 9
5 ANALYSIS 10
5.1 ADVANTAGES 10
5.1.1 FAST MEDIA 10
5.1.2 EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING 10
5.2 DISADVANTAGES 12
5.2.1 NARROWCASTING ON TWITTER 12
5.2.2 DISINFORMATION 12
5.2.3 ANTI-DEMOCRATIC 13
6 CONCLUSION 13
Reference list 15
Bibliography 16

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure 1: It shows the percents of global Internet users who visit those websites. 5

Figure 2 Tweet count following the 2009 Morgan Hill earthquake in CA. Tweets are binned in 10 seconds, and the dashed line marks the origin time of the earthquake. 7

ABSTRACT
Twitter has been wildly known as the most popular micro-blogging platform. The users of Twitter, as known as “Twitterers”, use it send and receive messages via the internet, text messages and third party applications (apps). As a successful form of social network, micro-blogging platforms like Twitter are growing quickly, which have been used as a important tool to connect and communicate by users. However, by the time they grow, micro-blogging platforms like Twitter have become more like news media than social network. This independent research is using Twitter be a example to analyze what part the form of micro-blog play in being news media and exploring the impact of it.

1 BACKGROUND
Micro-blogging is one of the most important forms of social network. It lets people broadcast messages and their feelings with others. A representative of micro-blogging is Twitter, has become world-wide popular during only a few years. Real-time, lightweight communication and broadcast is provided on Twitter. Via webpage, mobile devices and third-party applications messages and information are sent in only 140 words or fewer. This research will use Twitter as an example to provide evidence opinion that micro-blogging occupies an important position in news media and identify the advantages and disadvantages of it (Java 2007).

2 THE CHARACTERISTICS OF TWITTER
2.1 WHAT MICRO-BLOGGING MEANS?
Micro-blogging is a new kind of social networking services (SNS), and a short form of blogging. The words number of it usually limited less than 140, which is than traditional blog. Users can use different devices to get access to the site easily. Twitter is the best known micro-blogging service.

Figure 1: It shows the percents of global Internet users who visit those websites (GENG 2010).
After Twitter was built, many websites reference or copy from the model of Twitter set up their own micro-blog services.
2.2 TWITTER’S SOCIAL NETWORK SYSTEM
In Twitter, relationships are built by clicking the ‘follow’ button. Users can use it to receive messages from the ‘followed’ ones. This simple system of relationship offers users receive the messages which they have followed and broadcast their own to their followers. It is widely used by all kinds of micro-blog platforms. Once an account is created, it will start to follow and be followed, a online social circle is building. In that way, messages and information can travel the whole network between accounts. Based on this system, one single message can cause huge information flow through few steps (Kwak 2010).

2.3 THE PROCESS OF INFORMATION DISSEMINATION
Every message starts from a single account. Firstly the message which been sent will only be received by the followers of this account. This very first step is the narrowcasting of the information, which is different from broadcasting because the number of the audience is limited. However, once the message is considered to be worth to spread, it will be “retweet” by the followers, which means this message will be re-send. It is clear that other people who follow them will join the audience. By the time more people receive the message, it will become a extensive discussion in the network. At the same time, during the discussion inside, the message will also be widely discussed in other website, news channels and daily conversation, which become the third step.
2.4 THE FEATURES OF TWITTER AS MEDIA
Twitter provides a real-time social network based on users’ activates. It makes quickly respond on public events. For example, Twitter responded to the earthquake very quickly.

Figure 2 Tweet count following the 2009 Morgan Hill earthquake in CA. Tweets are binned in 10 seconds, and the dashed line marks the origin time of the earthquake (Earle 2010).
By contact, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will normally take at least three minutes to response on that. In the earthquake in Morgan Hill from figure 2, Twitter response the earthquake only in few seconds (Earle 2010).
More than three quarters of the connections of users in Twitter are one-way relationships, and more than half of the users are not followed by those who they follow. This makes Twitter more inclined to broadcast media than social network (Kwak 2010).
At last, Twitter is a platform of diversification. Every account has the equal rights of sending messages. That make all kinds of voice can be found on Twitter.
3 THE ROLE TWITTER PLAY AS MEDIA
3.1 TWITTER USED AS TRADITIONAL MEDIA
Traditional media’s first move to enter the social network and broadcast started with Facebook. Official accounts were built by writers, editors and the media organizations. After that, Twitter went mainstream to become media’s favorite website. Because of the features, traditional media have the capability to sent out short news and web links almost the same time when the event happen. In the court of Julian Assange who is the founder of Wikileaks, reporters were allowed use Twitter at the first time in a UK courtroom which used to be only e-mail can be used. This shows that Twitter is already recognized as an important tool of news broadcasting.
3.2 TWITTER AS ADVERTISING MEDIA
Twitter also has tremendous business value. Music companies, movie companies, famous brands and celebrities all have accounts on Twitter. Those accounts are followed by a large number of fans. In 2009, there is 12.9% of the marketers use Twitter as advertising media (Crum 2009). Twitter has become a large piece of internet advertising.
3.3 TWITTER AGAINST NEWS BLACKOUT
In the place of traditional media cannot reach, there is Twitter appears. Messages can be sending from disaster centre, countries with press control, and even revolutionary areas by Twitter users. Because of it is hard to censor the messages in Twitter, news can be spread by communication. Take Iran for example; in Iran’s protests Twitter became to be the most influential medium (BURNS 2009). The rebels won the world’s attention by using Twitter to send messages out. On the other hand, China which is the county lacks of freedom of speech, the website of Twitter which used to be designed as social network now become a tool to fight against Internet censorship and the territory of political activists. Though Twitter was blocked by the government because of its contains messages form dissidents and freedom of speech. However, many of the Chinese Twitter users breakthrough the government block to send and discuss public events happened in china which are not allowed ‘inside the Great Wall’. For example, Chinese famous artist and political activists Ai Weiwei uses Twitter to express the views of the authorities and political discontent (the economist 2009).
4 PERSONAL VIEW PUBLICATION
In the world of Twitter, everybody’s voice can be heard. Individuals stand the same level with media because they have the same right in sending messages. Ordinary people can also be the source of the news and post their view on public events. Even people with few followers have the possibility to be heard after several times “retweet”.
5 ANALYSIS
5.1 ADVANTAGES
5.1.1 FAST MEDIA
Being a broadcast media, Twitter has advantages in access to news, low-cost but high efficiency advertising and the fight against news blackout. Firstly, Twitter has the most convenient access to news. Massages can be received only need a mobile phone or laptop. Normally, people will get the information they want by following certain accounts such as news media originations, independent journalists and celebrities. This means that Twitter users will know about the news which they care about by check the homepages or cell phones anytime.
5.1.2 EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING
Effective advertising is provided on Twitter. Only by a very low cost: a networked computer, a full-time staff to update the information, can create interesting and even high-value marketing results. Not only the traditional advertising activity, which means simply send out product or sealed information, but also the up-level internet marketing can be done on Twitter. In addition, not only the marketers attend advertising activity but also general users will also ‘retweet’ the advertisement they like. Data shows that 67% of people who follow a brand on Twitter will purchase that specific brand (digitalsurgeons 2010). For the marketers, Twitter provides advertising opportunities which have low-cost and high efficiency. However, for the customers Twitter also provides a convenient access to the newest update of their interested brands and products.
5.1.3 TOOL OF FREEDOM
Twitter can be used to fight against news blackout. It is also a platform of freedom and democracy. In Twitter, the information that traditional media do not get or show can be seen, and the information travel faster than any other websites. In some cases, Twitter can get more aspects of the news or even more number of news than traditional media since news blackout or lack of freedom speech. After the earthquake of Whenchuan, China, independent investigations on the exactly number of death and the relationship with student death and the quality of school constructions were in progress. After Chinese government close the websites which are used to send out information to public, the information were put on Twitter. However, Chinese government have blocked Twitter for years, there are also applications like Twitese which allow user to use Twitter and build their own access to Twitter on webpages inside China to avoid the block.

5.2 DISADVANTAGES
5.2.1 NARROWCASTING ON TWITTER
However, the characteristics of Twitter also bought negative effects. When user creates a social circle, only the messages from the users which considered “interesting” will be received. In another word, people only hear from what they like. Which means Twitter actually only provide a narrow channel for users to communicate. Therefore, the views and information that users received can be narrow and limited. In order to have a wide variation of opinion on Twitter, users need to follow a lot of different accounts which they never do. Throughout the entire Twitter network it may not be a problem, but in users’ homepages, the messages received are hardly neutral.
5.2.2 DISINFORMATION
Furthermore, when it comes to spread of rumors, it will go as fast as the real news. Not only non-neutral information but also the facts which been twisted and even disinformation, once cause concern will be spread rapidly like true breaking news. Some of the Twitter users take advantage of this feature created series of lies to Induce world public opinion. In some reports come from Twitter, Data modification and fabrication of events can be seen from time to time. In Iran’s protests, messages like “that three million protested in Tehran last weekend” were send, but the real number of people was less than one million. Since everyone has the right to send message on Twitter (COHEN 2009).
5.2.3 ANTI-DEMOCRATIC
Twitter often considered as a democratic platform. However, not all users have the equal status in the word power. Credibility and popularity is the word power standard. Do not forget the main users of Twitter are generally within certain income, technology-loving and tend to the values of Western society. So there are both democratic and anti-democratic elements within Twitter. In that way, using information on Twitter to judge popular sentiment and predict the future of non-western countries will be useless (COHEN 2009).
6 CONCLUSION
In this research shows, Twitter as one of the representatives of micro-blog, has the features of real-time, lightweight, easy access and simple social network system. It provides a multifunctional, convenient and efficient broadcast media. In some way, Twitter can combine the advantages of traditional media and then develop into a new media contains its own features. This new media allow everyone take part of messages transmit. It will not defeated by news blackout and it has the advantages of fast and efficient. However, negative aspects also showed, such as causing parochialism, disinformation and misleading the users. It concludes that, Twitter and other micro-blog platforms should not be used as primary media. The messages on Twitter or the implied meaning of them should not be blindly believed, even it is sent by authorities. Micro-blog cannot replace traditional media, but using Twitter as media and question messages which are received at the same time will make Twitter a right tool.

Reference list
BURNS, A 2009, TWITTER FREE IRAN: AN EVALUATION OF TWITTER’S ROLE IN PUBLIC, viewed December 2010, <http://networkinsight.org/verve/_resources/CPRF_2009_papers.pdf >.
COHEN, N 2009, Twitter on the Barricades: Six Lessons Learned, viewed December 2010, < >.
Crum, C 2009, Which Marketers Are Using Which New Media Strategies?, viewed December 2010, < >.
digitalsurgeons 2010, Facebook vs. Twitter: a breakdown of 2010 social demographics, viewed December 2010, < >.
Earle, P 2010, 'OMG Earthquake! Can Twitter Improve Earthquake Response?', The Seismological Society of America, March/April 2010, pp. 81-82.
GENG, D 2010, Figure 1: It shows the percents of global Internet users who visit those websites.
Java, A 2007, 'Why we twitter: understanding microblogging usage and communities', 978-1-59593-848-0, ACM, NEW YORK.
Kwak, H 2010, 'What is Twitter, a social network or a news media?', 978-1-60558-799-8, ACM, New York.
the economist 2009, Ai Weiwei on China's regime, viewed January 2011, 、< >.

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