In the Pew Center’s recent take on the structures of Twitter Conversation networks, the center analyzes how people interact with one another, and what they way they interact means. I found this very interesting because I had never looked at Twitter in this way. Even though I knew it was a conversation, I never thought about how these conversations are structured, and how everyone’s Twitter feed could have a different conversation on it.
The first, most basic network is that of the divided, or polarized crowds. In terms of polarized crowds, one that comes to mind for me is my hometown high school rivalries. We have two high schools, Lakeville North and Lakeville South. When we play each other, in any sport, the rivalries get nasty, in person and online/in social media circles. It always astounded me that even though we were both mid-sized public schools within the same city limits that people are not afraid to openly bash each other on social media. Since I had friends from both, whenever a big game is on or a big competition is coming up, I hear and see the threats coming from both sides.
UNL’s Kappa house
Considering the people I follow, a major unified, tight crowd group that I follow is my sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma. Obviously, I follow many girls from my sorority at Creighton, but I also follow many Kappas who have a social media presence and that I have met in other ways. I also follow our national organizations Twitter handle, as well as some of the other chapter’s Twitter handles. A sorority, to me, seems like a tight crowd on social media because they all gravitate to, love and support the organization, and strive to do so in positive ways on social media. In addition, many sisters get connected with one another via social media, making the group aspect of it very effective.
I found the brand clusters grouping to be very relevant to a situation that happened a few years ago in Minnesota when a local high school hockey player was injured. He was checked into a wall, which put him in a wheelchair, with little hope of him ever walking again. When this happened, the communities around the Twin Cities areas all joined together to offer him and his family kind words and support, which was mostly done through social media. The game and his situation became really well known He gained many followers, a hashtag being commonly used by different people supporting him grew in popularity, and people found his messages of hope and strength on Twitter to be inspirational, so he was, and still is, constantly retweeted by the community. Even though he wasn’t a brand, his injury was an event and memory that became well known and was supported by social media.
Malaysian Airlines
Finally, the more advanced hub & spoke support network has been seen on my timeline lately in discussion of the missing Malaysian airline. I follow many news sources, and because of that, I was seeing the story told and reported on in different ways. Even though they all have the same topic and all have the same goal, to get news of it out to their followers and audiences, they want their story to be the one people choose to click on and pay attention to. Because of this, they have unique takes on it and choose unique aspects of the situation to focus on. The users on these news sources are disconnected from each other in this way, since they are trying to make themselves stand out in the news sphere.
Mapping Twitter conversations helps us understand Twitter and social media because it allows us to really understand why people are using social media. It is clear through all of the ways that the Pew Research Center mapped the conversations that people get way more out of social media than just entertainment and gossip. It is a tool, and exploring it in this way allows us to see the power of the tool.
Words on a Wire 