Microblogging

=Microblogging=


 * What is it? what has it been?**

"Microblogging is the practice of posting small pieces of digital content—which could be text, pictures, links, short videos, or other media—on the Internet. Microblogging offers a portable communication mode that feels organic and spontaneous to many and has captured the public imagination. Friends use it to keep in touch, business associates use it to coordinate meetings or share useful resources, and celebrities and politicians (or their publicists) microblog about concert dates, lectures, book releases, or tour schedules. A wide and growing range of add-on tools enables sophisticated updates and interaction with other applications, and the resulting profusion of functionality is helping to define new possibilities for this type of communication." ([|Educause], 2009)

In essence, microblogging consists of little blips of what you, your friends, businesses, or ANYBODY is up to. Microblogging is meant to be clean and instantaneous (and free for the most part). The interaction tends to be quicker than media sites such as Facebook or Google+. It is just little tidbits about your everyday life.

I strongly recommend clicking on the Educause link and reading the PDF they have.

Getting noticed on microblogging services such as Twitter is as easy as simply adding users to follow and having them follow you. Be bold! Make friends with people who you don't know in real life and tell them everything about your day! However, if you're planning on using Twitter as any sort of mobilization and advertising tool, it's important to produce quality microblogs that consist of impactful, provacative, and meaningful statements to the audience of your followers. This will ensure that you stay in the thoughts and posts of your followers, therefore maintaining your presence online. Although the top Twitter user [|rankings] consist of celebrities and entertainers, this doesn't mean that you can't have an impact in the Twitterverse. Much like blogging, it's important to link your microblogging account to other social network sites in order to keep your audience interested and aware of you. That way, if someone likes the posts that you made on a social network site, they are able to read more microblogging or blogging that you have written by clicking on the links you provide on your social network profile.
 * Strategies for successful microblogging: rhetorical, media ecological (i.e. how to get noticed, in addition to good microblogging).**

Here are a few microblogs out there:
 * Microblogging services:**
 * 1. Twitter** - Twitter is the "key player," and often used synonymously with the term microblogging. The major pros of Twitter are: its ease-of-use design, massive active audience (allowing for a more social and interesting interaction), and it's free. A con is that its popularity has led to numerous lawsuits and suspensions from people posting "bad things."

One of the main apsects of twitter is its length restriction. Each update or "tweet" can be a maximum of [|140 characters long]. A tweet can be the message sent by a user to all of his/her "followers" or at one specific user. Followers are users who choose to receive notifications of other user's tweets. All tweets will appear in a live feed that constantly updates.


 * 2. Tumblr -** The idea of Tumblr is to have clean and sleek microblogging. A pro is that it is a more popular site for sharing media (music, photos, links, etc), but that also leads into the con - there is no self hosting (at least for free). If a user wants to place a song on his profile, he has to either host it somewhere else or find someone who is.


 * 3. Jaiku -** Although Google shut it down January 15, 2012, Jaiku has been viewed as the most comparable microblogging site to Twitter. Think about the name. Haikus are short, rhythmic in their syllable usage, and poetic or clever. What separated Jaiku apart from Twitter is that users activity online was viewable (such as their activity on last.fm or flickr).


 * 4. Hictu -** [|Hictu] is a video microblogging site that allows vloggers to simply click with their mouse, record video, and post. Audio and text are capable, but that is not the primary use for this website.

links being posted by all Digg members.
 * 5. Digg** - [|DIGG]is a site that allows users to upload links to news stories, blogs, games, videos, basically any content on the web. The format is similar to the news feed on Facebook’s homepage, except instead of just your friends’ status updates, you can view

In fact, Digg is also a Facebook app. You don't need to sign up for Digg; you can simply log into Digg through Facebook.

Before you can post any links to Digg you have to check your email and confirm Digg as an app. Most Facebook apps don’t require email confirmation, but Digg does. Much like Facebook, you can choose to “like” links posted to Digg. Unlike Facebook, you can also “dislike” links. When you "like" a link on Digg you "Digg" it, when you don't like a link you "Bury" it.

Similar to the news feed on Facebook, you can also choose how to categorize Digg’s news feed. Options include: most recent, trending, 24 hours, 7 days, and 30 days. If you’re curious about a specific topic, there are categories into which the links are grouped: entertainment, news, sports, etc. If that’s not specific enough, there is always a search engine that allows you to sift through links by specific word choice.

The bottom line: Digg is a social media platform that corresponds directly with your Facebook, making it convenient and accessible. Posting is easy: all you have to do is type in a URL and a description and BAM! Your link is part of the Digg universe. If you like a particular link, the Digg toolbar (always visible) allows you to share any item through Facebook and Twitter.


 * 6. Fark** - [|FARK] is a web site created by Drew Curtis that invites members to submit links to news stories. The site usually receives about 2,000 links a day. Drew picks the funniest or most unusual stories or non-news items and posts them on the site, allowing readers to add their own comments. The big difference between Digg and Fark is that Fark is run by a moderator who chooses which news stories will be posted. Fark is also more of a site for news junkies that want to receive their news in a humorous fashion, much like viewers of //The Daily Show// or //Stephen Colbert//.


 * 7. Buzzflash** - [|BUZZFLASH] is similar to Fark in the fact that it is a site for news junkies. The biggest difference being that Buzzflash has a target audience of Democrats and Progressives, rather than readers who want humorous takes on the news. Most interesting about Buzzflash is their dedication to journalism that is not tainted or paid for by corporations like the news you receive from NBC or CBS or FOX or the other big networks. Buzzflash wants journalism from the individual; which is where a Progressive Libertarian such as Paul Levinson would step in.

[] [|http://www.hictu.com] [] [] [] []
 * Works Cited**