The meaning of Twitter

A new La Trobe University audio documentary examines the point of this micro-blogging social media platform.

twitterIn the world of social media, Twitter is being embraced by the internet community. La Trobe University has produced a new audio documentary discussing this tool, to examine how it works and how it’s being used. Does it have staying power, or is it just another in a long line of Myspaces, Facebooks, Bebos, LinkedIns and Slashdots?

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Contributors:
Dr Lawrie Zion, Media Studies, La Trobe University

“70% of journalists use social media to help them with their work, and are engaged with it. When a story breaks you’ll hear it on Twitter before you’ll find out about it anywhere else, because Twitter is where you get the first report, whether it’s an emergency or disaster.”

Dr David Prentice, Economics, La Trobe University
“If Twitter did try and charge something for services, it could well just attract someone else who’s willing to come in and do something very similar for free. And then their ability to charge is going to be very limited.”

Dr Chris Scanlon, Media Studies, La Trobe University

“For a not so serious web platform, it’s actually being used in quite interesting ways. Look at what happened during the Iranian elections. It’s a good example of where people started using this ‘low-tech easy publishing platform’ to actually get news out.”

Andrew Crook, Journalist, Crikey News

“I think as a journalist, you need to be able to sort the wheat from the chaff. When you get a tip and you have a sense when a tweet is generally right or wrong. Yeah, it only takes sometimes a couple minutes of Googling or even less to find out whether something is true or not.”

Dr Nenagh Kemp, Developmental Psychology, University of Tasmania
“Yes, language does always evolve. I think in more informal writing perhaps it’s going to be more appropriate for you to use abbreviations, but it takes a really long time for formal language to change.”

CONTACT:
Matt Smith

Phone: 03 9479 5513
Email: matthew.smith@latrobe.edu.au

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