New/s rules for more Twitter exposure

Broken hearts. Mundane cups of tea. The Twitterverse has it all. And depending on who you are following some can more salacious and entertaining than others. Up the Tweetdebate - known for its condensed form of short messaging or microblogging as tweets, Twitter lets users update in 140 characters their succinct social status 'fact/s'.

No longer. You may have noticed - you can hardly miss amid the blaze of updates - longer tweets. Tweets that go beyond the 140 character brief. Enter, Twerbose which allows for 'all-can-type' updates. Utilised by the likes of the Lohan sisters it must be easy to use and thus has secured, already, popularity with the yoff. Take heed though, as such tweet extensions allow for longer replies and talking heads. And not necessarily of the polite and liked type.

Take Frances Bean Cobain's (@Gofackadawg) rant at mini Lohan...

This is my open letter to Ali Lohan.
Your not entitled to anything...

Unlikely to spark the next Lohan meltdown such extended tweet coverage does rather retract from the original delight and skill of the 140 character composition, not to say composure - both words and socially. As a continually Twitteriffic, nay social media, directed lifestyle this represents the fast work of fingers and thumbs able to update about everything to everyone.

Perhaps there should be a masterclass in Twitteretiquette? A new moral code highlighting the when it is appropriate to tweet, our expectations of others and how they should respond.

Following a w/e full of 'you must respond NOW' constant tweet demands from a certain difficult and cantankerous person (they are a drama queen), I was reminded of a few pet peeves in the social situating via such brief characters. Indeed, upon my i've dropped everything and have relinquished to your demands by near instantanous reply. They (that cantankerous person) then choose not to respond. In short they failed in their duty to keep to the communication rules in our treatment of others.

How rude.

Time for blood to befall their bootstraps. Or perhaps they could just read the following...

Here's a top 10 list of things that I insist upon to for tweetsuavity.

1. One does not resort to anniversay based demands or expectations. These are the refuge of the insecure and unimaginative. Facebook already tells me it's is your birthday.

2. Always be aware of Followers. This means that you will endeavour to be creative with updates. Above all, respond in kind to @replies. Unless you're Hilary Clinton, then you get your PTA (personal twitter assistant) to manage these for you.

3. Broadcast is a core element of the tweet. Keep in mind then that these act as an open invitation for commentary about potential holes, mistruths and demands which exist as part of every update.

4. Always respond to notified errors, however insignificant these may appear to be.

5. Encourage civility. And, if work related, always uphold professionalism.

6. It is within your rights to refuse Followers. Call this social standards. If one faction is a PR SPAM promoting tweeter you have every right to block. It is not about the number of people as Followers, but the quality of updates and your connection. This means that you may not want any Lohan following.

7. Never copy and paste a tweet without a 'retweet' RT tag. This is akin to theft. You will be found. You know who you are.

8. Embrace the tinyurl, photos, video and additional appi's in every way possible.

9. Remember, unless you double check your privacy settings, your personal tweet archives are freely available. This means that those intent on making mountains out of molehills could cite your words back to you, whether you intended them to be read in that way or not.

10. Work with Twitter newbies. You know the one's with less than three followers. You were one too once.

(opps one more)

11. Try not to use Twitter for professional only relationships. This is reserved for those persons you have not met irl, or if you are not friends with their friends. As an enquiry that requires more than 140 characters of content should be mediated by other forms. NOT a string of tweets.

...And finally, never make lists of 10.

Tweeting may lead you to being the talk of the town, but only ever until the next update. And the tweets never reveal what you really think do they?... Unless they're directed at a certain cantankerous nitwit...

Social media and differentiation: Obsessed much?

Modern society is now charged by social media in/action(s). The what you do, when you are doing it and how you say you're doing it.

Equally society has always been characterised by powerful social divisions - whether along the lines of technology ownership: 'you don't have an iPhone?!', gender: 'girl geeks don't code', class: 'MySpace for 'chavs', Facebook for BBC/Guardian middle classes', country/region: 'Bebo most popular in Ireland, Mixi in Japan', etc. Traditionally, far from being universal, social life is disrupted by forms of communication, patterns of consumerism, engagement and access. Precisely how these operate in daily life and relate to one another represents major issues. Phillip Nowark, of Social Media Unraveled.com, suggests a 'No Farting: A guide to Twitter Etiquette' - which links rather nicely to my own etiquette sensibilties I explore on properfacebooketiquette. Here it is the attention to social details that matter. For example, the perceptions of a time famine reflect the greater pressures on our (busy) lives with regard to work, play, friends, family and acquaintences.

Linda Buzzell for AlterNet explores the 'psychological impact' of our fast-paced and highly pressured world. Calling for us to Slow Down: How Our Fast-Paced World Is Making Us Sick. With the greater outlets for participation, the visibility of what we are doing, shown in real time - so as we are doing it - point to a greater intensity to be of-the-moment and constantly aware of others. Together, these characteristics are all candidates for what is a multi-casual explanation of frequent social anxities about the potential demise of known social etiquette.

So are we all obsessed? And not with the content of our underware.

Modes of social media expression have become a principal form of social distinction and require (new) social explanations. For example, do too many tweats in one day screams 'desperate' and 'annoying' to friends? And what are the consequences of syncing your Tweets with your Facebook updates?... Just some of the dilemmas that will be addressed by @tweetsuavities - a new Twitter feed that explores the way in which social issues are to be tweeted, or rather treated, with the benefits, pleasures and possible pitfalls one might expect to accure using Twitter as one element of social media.

One particular issue that interests me, is the (possible) substitution between our modes of encounter that emerge constantly through streams of social information. Take, for example, if a friend is 'missing' on Facebook, more than likely it will be revealed what 'they are doing' via Twitter, Flickr, their email etc. The reason for my interest, aside from usual sociological nosiness, is the succession of each socially mediated 'part' of a person which have different consequences for social relations/hips. the obligations and bonds associated with making sure our friends are sufficiently fed with our information (as communal discourse), against our familial ties and relationships (as a more domestic discourse) can differ widely in a social market of constant exchange and update.

In short, social media acts as a vehicle for our socialisation and additional social preferences. Our decisions are made about whether 'I like them' and so will subscribe to their feed(s), tweets etc.) Thus there is the reproduction of relationships as we hold them outside social media, which go on to influence how we might be encouraged to transform our relations in the future...

Where can you find out more? Well some of the above requires following @tweetsuavities, @mazphd and reading properfacebooketiquette...