Twitter

Elizabeth Taylor was known to many as a legendary actress, fashion icon and champion for AIDS research. Throughout her life the public remained enamored with her celebrity status through such award-winning roles as Cleopatra and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, while off-screen she made headlines with her tumultuous personal life, which included eight marriages and a myriad of health issues. Her death yesterday was a stark reminder to us all that life is precious no matter who you are or what accolades you have won.

Taking some time to search what people were saying about Taylor online was eye opening to say the least… by that afternoon, there were literally thousands of Tweets, blog posts and Facebook messages online about her life and the phrase “RIP Elizabeth Taylor” was already a trending topic on Twitter.

Does this seem odd to anyone else?

Is social media the “new” way we as a society will choose to share our losses and mourn those who we care about? People from all walks of life were tweeting yesterday regardless of whether or not they were a fellow celebrity who knew Taylor, or an individual who simply knew of her.

Not surprisingly, fans of Taylor who posted yesterday are not alone in their choice of expression—we’ve seen a similar outcry when other celebrities or notable figures have passed and it is now becoming more commonplace. Michael Jackson’s death was one such memorable flashpoint and arguably the first major “social media death” where tributes, videos and stories about him were shared online for days literally dominating the online conversation. I would guess that many of us have even seen some in our own social networks using social media platforms to share their grief over the loss of a loved one or to pay homage to them.

Just a Generational Thing?

This growing trend is a relatively new one, but looks increasingly like it is here to stay. Is this very public expression of mourning simply a natural extension of how younger people—who live their daily lives in a similarly open and transparent way through social media—now choose to experience and personalize their own grief? Or does this trend cross generational boundaries? 

Among celebrities at least, many of all ages shared special messages on Twitter, for example:

• Alyssa Milano: Rest in peace, Elizabeth Taylor. You are a prism & will live on through all the good you did while you were with us.

• Larry King: Elizabeth Taylor was a great friend, a great star and one gutsy woman. She was so special. You won’t see the likes of her again…

• Mariah Carey: R.I.P. Elizabeth Taylor an incomparable legend who will live forever.

• Magic Johnson: Elizabeth, thank you for all your help in the battle for HIV and AIDS. You will be missed by the world.

• Steve Martin: I met Elizabeth Taylor several times. She was witty and self-deprecating, which I found surprising and delightful. She loved to laugh.

"Use With Care"

Taylor herself had her own thoughts on social media that were fortuitous to say the least. With her passing, I learned that Taylor maintained her own Twitter account—@DameElizabeth and in a recent interview with Kim Kardashian for Harper’s Bazaar noted: “I like the connection with fans and people who have been supportive of me. And I love the idea of real feedback and a two-way street, which is very, very modern. But sometimes I think we know too much about our idols and that spoils the dream. So, like all things, it is to be used with care!”

With more than 300,000 followers, I should have known that this 79 year old Hollywood legend would have found this tool to be a useful way to connect with others. A quick scan of her 131 tweets shows a mix of personal messages, inspirational words to friends and promotional messages for the causes she cared about the most.

What do you think? Are forums like Twitter and Facebook the appropriate places to share message such as the ones we’re discussing? Does it matter what generation you are part of when it comes to using social media in such a way? Do “milestone” issues such as the loss of a legendary celebrity transcend more traditional applications of social media?

Since 2010 and the winter gift-giving holidays are both over, it's time to start thinking about the new year and a fresh list of resolutions. As I began thinking about what my list could be for 2011, I thought of some social media resolutions I and others could make for the new year. Whether you're a social media super user or a newbie, there's always something we can do better to contribute to our online community or get more out of our time online. Here are a few social media resolutions I've thought of - adopt a few or add your own.

1. Listen to other people.

Whenever someone wants to suggest that social media makes people more narcissistic, all they have to do is cite the stat that half of Twitter users never read anything anyone else has to say. If this is you, not only does this make you sound like a self-centered jerk, you're also missing out on the best part of social media. I can't imagine the value of Twitter if not to engage with and learn from others.

2. Don't talk about yourself so much.

Personal stories, especially when used to demonstrate a larger truth or when told in humility, can be great ways to share your thoughts. But, as Geoff Livingston discovered, people don't always like reading about you as much as you like writing about it. He took on an experiment in December where he resolved not to use the words me, myself or I for one month in an effort to refocus his blog, and he found that traffic doubled during that time.

3. If you can't say something nice...well, you know the rest.

I'm all for lively discussion and debate via social media. Many of the best blog posts are those that become forums in which people can hash out issues and hopefully move toward a consensus. In a time in which media outlets are so segmented that you can read your daily paper, listen to your preferred radio station and tune in to your favorite news programs without ever hearing an opinion you disagree with, social media can provide a much needed platform for public discourse. Unfortunately, it's all too easy to hide behind the anonymity of a computer and post things that are snarky and hateful. If we all resolved to refrain from posting things we wouldn't say to someone's face, that might go a long way.

4. Try something new on for size.

There are so many new platforms, there's always something new to try. Never tried Gowalla, Google Reader, Causes, Sparked or one of many other tools? Spend a little time trying one out and see what you're missing.

5. Think before you post.

Transparency is great, but every now and then, we take a ride on the oversharing train. As we've seen through a few painful rounds of Facebook privacy outrage, deleting what we have posted online is not always as easy as it should be. So think about what you say, upload and tag, and check your privacy settings so you know who has access to your information online.

6. Don't be the strong, silent type.

Instead of just reading, get involved in the conversation by leaving a comment on a blog post, responding to a tweet or making a recommendation on foursquare. You have valuable things to contribute, so don't be shy about joining in the discussion.

7. Use it for good.

Maybe you spend a lot of time online - you have more Facebook friends than you realized you had in real life and hoards of Twitter followers. There's nothing wrong with using social media to catch up with old friends and make new contacts, but this year, you can also try using your online networks for good. Ask your friends to give to a birthday cause or simply share an issue or organization you care about with your friends and followers.

8. Pass it on.

Have a parent, coworker or friend who is still behind the times? Take a few minutes to show them how to get started and share some of the tips you've learned along the way.

Far beyond the original "What are you doing?" prompt, individuals are using Twitter to share and find breaking news before it's available from sources like CNN, the New York Times, or the local news. From the riots around the Iran election to the Hudson River crash, Twitter has become a go-to source in breaking stories around the world. Sometimes, as with the Haiti earthquake, victims and witnesses use social media to find help. And in reporting situations like the Iran election protests, which were inaccessible to traditional news media, Twitter was not just the fastest source of information for people in and outside Iran, it was the only source. Most recently, Twitter was the leading source of information when a gunman took hostages in the Discovery building in Silver Spring, Maryland. Before information became available anywhere else, people began tweeting updates and photos from inside the building and neighboring offices.

As the use of Twitter has become more widespread (now with more than 100 million users), so has our trust in the information coming from the site. Even mainstream news outlets now routinely pull information from Twitter, sometimes without fully checking facts and sources - a point that both sports reporter Mike Wise and political columnist Chris Cilliza have made in the last few weeks (albeit in different ways). The citizen journalism enabled by Twitter is undoubtedly popular because access to information has never been faster. It provides nearly instantaneous updates, and when we're holding our breath through crisis situations, our chief priority is quick access to information.

But some of the drawbacks of this instant and easily spread information leaves some wondering whether this is a good thing. Besides the time it takes to mobilize a news crew, traditional reports are typically delayed because of fact checking. Having reputations built on delivering not only fast, but accurate news, they are expected to make certain their information is correct. The expectations of the average person with a smartphone in the midst of an emergency are understandably not so high. In the case of the Discovery attack, one witness took a Twitpic of a man with a gun and identified him as the suspect. With more than 100 retweets, the photo spread like wildfire, but it later became clear that the man was actually a member of the police force dressed in plain clothes. But as many regretful Twitter users know, once you push "tweet" it's not always possible to pull that information back.

In addition to the spread of misinformation, this Twitter journalism has the potential to make a situation like the one at Discovery worse. If information about a SWAT team movement or delicate hostage negotiation is available - or even suggested - on the web, it's possible that suspects could gain access to that information as well and use it to their advantage. Such information might also cause panic, which could lead some to put themselves in harm's way before authorities can conduct an evacuation or a rescue operation. This trend in Twitter reporting creates a clash between a tightly-held right to know and share information that is becoming more and more a part of our culture and the need for accountability in sharing accurate and responsible information. And with the nature of Twitter, there may not be any way to expect or enforce standards for credible information the way we do with professional news media. Social media is certainly changing the way we find information by enabling millions of citizen reporters, but is that always a good thing?

Are the potential risks of spreading Twitter information about crisis situations worth the access to the information? Do you want the quickest access to information even if some of the details turn out to be inaccurate?

As with many new technologies and developments, social media is being used in surprising and unintended ways to analyze and reveal unexpected data and trends. Twitter, Facebook and Google tools have already been used for market research, sales predictions and targeted advertising. Twitter, for example, has shown remarkable accuracy at forecasting box office success, even more accuracy than the currently used (and comparably complex) Hollywood Stock Exchange method. Now credit card companies are reportedly using foursquare and other location sharing platforms to predict divorce, and therefore financial troubles, by analyzing the places people are checking in frequently - the logic being that Home Depot and Bed, Bath & Beyond check-ins demonstrate stability in a way that frequent late night bar check-ins do not.

While it seems a bit creepy to think about companies analyzing where we go and what we tweet about, you have to admit it's also pretty resourceful. As someone who thinks that nonprofits should often operate a lot more like for-profit companies, I wonder if there's an opportunity to use this strategy for good. What if nonprofits could use public data from social networking sites like Twitter and foursquare to predict which demographics and individuals are likely to be interested in their organization or cause?

The places people visit and the subjects they post about on social networks might provide clues about whether they are likely to donate or volunteer before they are asked - or even inform what type of appeal might work best. It might take extra work or expense up front, but it could save time and money in the long run by allowing development teams to concentrate their resources on the people who are most likely to respond. While each nonprofit might not have the capacity to pour over Twitter data, it could be an interesting third party business opportunity.

And once consumers are able to get used to the fact that people are checking up on their social media posts, this strategy could benefit them as well. Instead of sifting through all kinds of volunteer opportunities and donation asks from organizations that don't particularly inspire me, I wouldn't mind receiving targeted solicitations only from nonprofits that have some reason to believe I would be interested in getting involved in their work.

Is this social media research in the future of nonprofit development and recruitment? Is it an invasion of privacy or just smart? How would you respond if you knew you were being targeted by a nonprofit because of your tweets and check-ins?

Last month Allison Fine started an interesting discussion on her blog about women, social media and influence. Allison wondered if social media might be the X factor that would help women make real strides in closing the leadership gap. Among commenters, there seemed to be a general consensus that women, as well as other groups, have been able to circumvent, at least in some instances, the glass ceiling and constraints placed on them by the traditional business world. Women have been able to use social media to get their thoughts out to the marketplace without having to get permission or backing from an organization.

The Women of the Year list by She Takes on the World is full of women who have used social media to champion all manner of causes from the global water crisis and microcredit to idea-sharing and motivating young people to succeed. While all of these women would probably be making a difference without laptops and iPhones, they have been able to multiply their efforts with creative social media use.

Organizations like Blogher work to help women online by create opportunities for exposure, education, community and economic empowerment. A 2009 Blogher study reported that 42 million American women are using social media regularly both to share and find information and advice. The survey also found that more than 60 percent of these women use blogs and social networks to find information about social activism.

A recent Vanity Fair article, America's Tweethearts, discusses how previously unknown women representing different sectors and interests have been able to use social media to gain a unique kind of fame on Twitter. In the article (whose author doesn't seem to be entirely sold on with Twitter) one of the "twilebrities" featured, Felicia Day, points out: “Doors were closed to us before. Now the tools for success have been democratized. It’s just me and whoever wants to talk to me, wherever they are in the world.”

It doesn't take a celebrity spokesperson or even a twilebrity spokesperson to leverage social media for wide reach. Like an online flashmob, scores of women (and oddly, some men) began posting one-word status messages yesterday. "Black," "lavender," and "red" were littered among our news feeds, and quickly people began asking, explaining and commenting over the colorful posts, not only on Facebook, but on Twitter and other social media platforms. The Case Foundation's Allie Burns wrote a post discussing both the buzz and the criticism around the campaign. Whether a quietly orchestrated awareness by a breast cancer organization or a prank by a group of young women, it has created a discussion carried on by common women which has permeated the social media world.

It's exciting to see that social citizen gals are using social media to share their ideas and passions and to advocate for the causes that are important to them. And since Millennials may be the most active and engaged online, Millennial women - as individuals and as groups - may have a greater opportunity to be heard and wield influence at a younger age than the women before us. I hope, and trust, that we will continue to take advantage of this opportunity - not to grab self-serving fame for it's own sake, but to change the world with our creative approaches, open and transparent conversations and inspirational acts.

Guest blogger Brannon Cullum is a graduate intern at the Case Foundation, working on a Masters in Communication, Culture and Technology at Georgetown University.

If you regularly tweet or follow users on Twitter, you may have noticed a particular hashtag popping up frequently over the past week. No, not #balloonboy, but #BeatCancer. The #BeatCancer campaign was one of the first successful efforts using a hashtag in an effort to raise money for a worthy cause.

As you may know, hashtags are keywords used to organize tweets around particular issues and makes searches easier.  #BeatCancer was a social media experiment spearheaded by Everywhere, a social media marketing and content development company. The goal of their campaign was to raise money for non-profit cancer organizations. Over a 24 hour period (from October 16 to October 17), people were encouraged to use the hashtag #BeatCancer in Twitter posts, Facebook status updates, and blogs. For every posting that included the hashtag, Ebay/Paypal and MillerCoors Brewing Co. agreed to donate a penny. It helped that the campaign was launched at the BlogWorld & New Media Expo, where influential bloggers and social media users were congregating.

The campaign was judged a success from many standpoints, most notably by setting a Guinness World Record for the most widespread social network message in 24 hours, with the #BeatCancer hashtag included in 209,771 mentions over the 24-hour period. It also raised upwards of $70,000 for cancer research. This is quite a feat, since the launch of the campaign wasn’t covered by any traditional media outlets.

While the campaigns leaders and supporters can celebrate its success, what do we know about the thousands of people who retweeted the message? The skeptic in me wonders how many of them were actually aware of the purpose behind using the hashtag. A quick search of hashtag statistics shows that many people are still tweeting with #BeatCancer today, not realizing that the actual campaign ended days ago. This leads me to believe that these users aren’t exactly clear about the meaning and goals behind the campaign.

At the same time, even if a user retweeting a hashtag isn’t completely informed, he or she could be at a starting off place for learning more about an issue.Jocelyn Harmon recently wrote about using social media tools for advocacy and notes: It's true, there may never be a better substitute for in-person organizing. Face-to-face meetings fulfill a basic human need for connection and will always be central to helping us come together to learn about and care for one other. But newer online tools may be just the complement we need to rebuild and galvanize our American spirit of advocacy, volunteerism and giving.

The challenge of leveraging this new type of advocacy campaign is that hashtags could soon become the new online petition or email forward. How often do you get a request from a friend to sign a petition for a cause they support, but you have no genuine or invested interest in it? In both cases, the cause is something you don't have to know much about, but simply participate in with a click. This runs the chance of becoming another example of "slacktivism." Evgeny Morovoz, a fellow at Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, cautions, "People go a little bit too far and they start campaigning on issues before actually thinking them through and verifying that the problem actually exists." (For more on slacktivism, see our previous posts here and here). 

If using hashtags is the next wave of campaigning, should we brace for a deluge of hashtags for any and all causes? With too many filling up Twitter feeds already, hashtags that are part of legitimate campaigns like #BeatCancer run the risk of being crowded out by silly and meaningless tags like #balloonboy. (#balloonboy, by the way, was tweeted over 48,000 times on October 15 alone and is still a Twitter trending topic.)

To successfully integrate the use of a hashtag into a campaign, it appears to work best if the message being retweeted also includes information about the meaning behind the hashtag. Instead of just tweeting, "#BeatCancer," a more effective tweet would be, "#BeatCancer Read more about it on beatcancereverywhere.com" or "Everybody use the #BeatCancer hashtag today. eBay/Paypal & MillerCoors are donating $0.01 every time you tweet it." Mihaela Lica, senior partner at Pamil Vision PR, shared some lessons she has gleaned after monitoring this campaign, including the need for greater transparency and clearer communications. Twitter has also begun defining "trending topics," the most popular topics users are tweeting about, on its platform. When you click on a trending topic, a brief statement appears that clarifies the significance of the topic. This is a step in the right direction. Whatthetrend.com also highlights current trending topics and the stories behind them.

What do you see as the pros and cons of hashtag campaigns? Did you participate in #BeatCancer?

Guest blogger Brannon Cullum is a graduate intern at the Case Foundation, working on a Masters in Communication, Culture and Technology at Georgetown University. Her post is part of a series we have been doing on some intersections of social media and the college experience.

Despite reports earlier this summer indicating that young people were not using Twitter, market research firm comScore released new data last week revealing that younger age groups are “flooding the fastest” as the demographics for Twitter users begins to shift. The shift comes at the same time many young adults are heading back to college. So, beyond following their favorite celebrities and athletes, or finding out what’s for breakfast in the dorm cafeteria, how can Millennials use Twitter on campus?

One first step is to see if your college or university has jumped on the bandwagon and created a Twitter account. There are official institutional feeds, as well as specific accounts for various areas of university life. I’ve come across Twitter feeds for admissions, athletics, arts, campus life, libraries, academic departments, campus newspapers, and other student groups. Check out onlineschool.org’s list of the Top 100 Twitterers in Academia for a broad list.

GlobalQuad.com is a new website that aggregates both official university tweets and personal tweets from student, staff, or faculty and allows you to filter results by college or university. There are nearly sixty colleges and universities currently featured on the site, which is edited by Natan Edelsburg, an NYU undergraduate. This site seems very useful if you want to locate all of the different people or departments tweeting at your school.

Are you tweeting in class? There is a growing movement of professors using Twitter in the classroom as a way to liven up the traditional lecture and help students feel more engaged with course content. Some professors are using Twitter to share information, links, and news related to course content with students; others have designated specific hashtags for a course to organize and aggregate tweets. If you don’t have time for office hours and your professor has a Twitter account, sending him or her a direct message is a quick and easy way to connect.

Monica Rankin, a History professor at the University of Texas at Dallas, experimented with Twitter during the spring 2009 semester, using it as a tool to organize class comments and questions. Students were encouraged to “live tweet” during class and the feed was projected on a large screen in the classroom. In her reflections on the experiment, Rankin notes that by using Twitter she was able to engage some students who otherwise would not have participated in class discussion.

Perhaps many Millennials did not rush to join Twitter earlier because they saw tweeting as the same thing as posting a Facebook status update. While Facebook updates are limited to a person’s friends, tweets can be read by anyone. For college students who are interested in networking or publicizing a student group or event, Twitter can be quite useful.

Looking for a job or internship? Twitter is a great place to start. Georgetown University’s Career Services is offering a webinar to its students to learn how to “tweet yourself to a job.” It is one of many university career centers using Twitter to share information with students. If you have a particular career in mind, start building a network of people on Twitter that are in your specific field. This will make it a lot easier to connect with professionals once you graduate and need advice or are looking for employment.

If you want to start tweeting, Megan Jones has a useful list of the top 25 tips for college students using Twitter. Advertising professor Samuel Bradley has an extremely helpful guide as well. We Follow, a directory of Twitter users, has listings for Millennial Tweeters, too. What Twitter trends are you seeing on campus? Do you think Twitter has a place in the classroom?

This morning I was in a cab on my way to the airport when I decided to quickly scroll through my email and Twitter feed to see what I might miss while on the five hour flight from DC back to San Francisco. It was very rainy this morning when my plane took off -- nothing like the September 11, that I remember while working on Capitol Hill back in 2001. The sun was beaming off of the Capitol dome and the clear blue skies created a surreal feeling as smoke from the Pentagon billowed in the distance.

The Septmber 11, digital archive is also using electronic media to collect, preserve, and present the history of September 11, and its aftermath.  It contains more than 150,000 digital items, including more than 40,000 first-hand stories, and more than 15,000 digital images.  For my sister-in-law, a first grade teacher in the Bronx,  a digital archive like this allows her to share stories with her students, many of whom are learning of the tragedy for the first time.

As Millennials everywhere head back to school over the next few weeks, we are going to be thinking and talking about some intersections of social media and the college experience.

Today is the first day of school for many students across the country. After a few months of beach vacations, summer jobs, and lounging around the house, it's time to get back into the swing of going to class, writing papers and taking tests. With its increasing popularity, social media is bridging both worlds - in the classroom and out - and people have begun to study what all this social media is really doing to our brains.

My mom used to tell my brother that video games were going to turn his brain to mush. Many studies now dispute this, showing that gaming can actually improve perception, sharpen thinking and increase patience. Point for my brother. (Unfortunately, I lost interest in video games after they moved beyond the original Nintendo.) Similarly, some have speculated and worried lately that all of this social media use by today's young people is ruining their ability to write. At the very least, they say, Facebook and Twitter leads to time wasted talking about yourself to no one in particular.

And with all our ROTFLs BRBs TTYLs RTs, HTs, and other abbrevs, I can see how our teachers might be concerned that proper spelling, capitalization, sentence structure, and good old fashioned grammar have gone by the wayside. But could it be that our constant texting, tweeting, blogging and facebook posting are actually just as helpful as summer reading and flash cards?

Yes and no. Tracy Alloway, a psychologist in Scotland, recently studied the impact of social media on working memory. She claims that Facebook helps enhance our intelligence because keeping up with so many friends is like a workout routine for our memories, but she warns that other types of social media might not be so helpful. Twitter's character limits, along with the brevity of text messaging and YouTube videos, shrink our attention spans and fail to engage our brains because we don't have to process the endless stream of information come at us. 

So social media's effects on memory seem to be split. What about other skills? The social web has turned us all into content producers, rather than just consumers. In addition to giving us an opportunity to share what we think and voice our love, hate or indifference on all manner of subjects, it also gives us the valuable opportunity to practice writing.

Andrea Lunsford of Stanford University says that her study shows that technology and social media are improving students' ability to write. Like we've always been told, practice makes perfect, and thanks to our habits of constant online communication, this generation of students is getting more writing practice than any group of students ever before. This is because Millennial students are not just writing in the classroom; they are writing throughout the day. Clive Thompson points out that this is a huge paradigm shift - in generations before us, essays were written in class, and that was it. And it is more persuasive writing because they feel they are always writing for an audience.

Not only do they write more, but today's students are also adept at using appropriate tone and style for their audience. Because of the interactive nature of social media, users are more aware of their various audiences. Rather than just writing for one professor, they are writing for friends and peers with whom they have varying types relationships and shared interests. They know not to use the same writing style in a research paper as they do posting birthday well wishes on a friend's wall. Likewise, it's often occurred to me that Twitter helps me to practice a more concise style of writing - a habit which can be difficult to form.

Are you convinced? Is social media the best thing that's happened to the classroom since the overhead projector, or are you still waiting for our brains to turn to mush?

Whether its the widespread use of social media channels like Twitter and Facebook; the routine nature of publishing content straight from our phones; or the growing use of flipcams and digital cameras to capture moments in time – we are all susceptible to the 24-7 broadcast of our “on the record” lives.   What’s more, nearly everyone we interact with whether at work, in the grocery store, or on the metro can be considered a member of the newly defined social media “paparazzi.”