6/12

Respond to the character's question as he enters the twittersphere:  "Who are they talking to?"  Do you wonder who your audience is when you post on twitter?  Do you feel differently about your audience in online writing environments?  Is your relationship to your online audience distinct?  Who do you imagine is reading your tweets, for example?

This animation clearly doubts the viability of twitter as a valuable tool.  What do you think?   What is the purpose of microblogging?


In my opinion, people on twitter are talking to anyone who will listen.  At first, this might sound harsh and rude, but when you think about it it's true.  Friends, family, coworkers, and all other kinds of followers on twitter are the ones who are reading the tweets. When I have to post on twitter, I honestly don't think a lot about who my audience is.  Thinking about it now, I suppose it is my classmates and anyone following the text thread, seeing as how I only use it for school.  I do feel differently when I think about that every word I type does have the potential to be seen by anyone. It seems very violating and makes me slightly uncomfortable and self-conscious.  In online writing environments I feel like my audience is not very close to me.  I don't have a personal connection to them, so I feel like there is no distinct bond between us.


I don't believe twitter is a useful tool to most people, so I agree with the message the cartoon animation is sending.  The intended purpose of microblogging is to reach as many people as possible with a small important piece of information; however, I feel people abuse it and use it for stupid purposes.