Probably most significantly, I have discovered how to use Twitter more fully. Somehow what is obvious to a teenager (dont they always seem to have the 'knack' of technology) - is not straightforward to me! I needed to be gently advised of how to get the most out of Twitter. My thanks go to various presenters for enlightening me more fully regarding the background to the system of organisation Twitter uses. This definitely helped to appreciate how to get the most out of tweets, retweets, modified tweets, mentions, hashtags and hyperlinks. I had previously thought I had a 'handle on Twitter', but now see that there is a skill to use. I aim to improve!
My thanks go to Sandrine Roginsky - within her presentation, I was left with a definite pause for thought as to whether Twitter is not a tool to interact with the man in the street, but rather to foster an organisations E-Bubble.
It was clear within various sessions that microblogging enabled some level of activities co-ordination or record, reputation management and enabled a relationship or awareness to be formed between the blogger and their audience. The ability to retweet, modify tweets and give information tweets enables knowledge to be shared, offering social information to be shared, distribution of news, comment on articles etc. Of course, the ability to now link to media is also fabulous (tempting cupcakes were shown as an example of this - yum!). Twitter evidently has benefits - although with this comes potential risks, and there was evidently a need for responsible use.
Twitter has existed since 2006. It is widely used for research, entertainment and news. Whilst it does not have the number of users that Facebook has, there has been significant growth in the number of users (16% of Americans are now using Twitter). For those within the UK, the analysis site Alexa shows today that Twitter is the 12th most frequently accessed website. The potential reach of any given tweet is significant - potentially seen by all followers (assuming they were looking at the time), and then retweeted on to their followers and so on. It would be possible in this way for many thousand people to see a single tweet. The use of hashtags also means that a person who had no relationship with the blogger, but who had an interest in the subject, would be able to locate the message through the hashtag (essentially enabling Twitter to file it in a specific index).
Perhaps it is unsurprising then that Twitterverse is continuing to expand. Of those using Twitter, Dr. Ruth Page's study showed that 51% followed companies or brands. They used this to enable comment - including complaint. Given the potential reach that this complaint could have, it is unsurprising that many companies are now trying to work hard to monitor and respond to these. In the microblog of 140 characters or less, this is potentially challenging without being brusque. There is further research being done in this area and this will make for interesting reading.
I learnt a lot within the conference, I gained a lot of knowledge, met some fabulous people and had my interest piqued in many directions. I need time to review all my notes now (notes, not tweets - typing is too slow for me!). A very positive experience perhaps summed up by pennyb's tweet:-
Penny Andrews
Sad #LUtwit is over. I learned a great deal and met wonderful folk. My research will be better for it, as will my life.