“My phone ringed while me at a meeting, the first thing occurred in my head was getting an interesting picture, but not mute the phone. ” This is the quote from a BeReal users. “The countdown gives me anxiety for posting but also keeps the authenticity. And it also comforts me that every one has similar life styles, eating with friends, sitting in front of computer and watching TV.”
With the bloom of short video social media, the text-based app seems deserted. But the hit news still comes from Twitter. like Elon Musk’s $44 billion Twitter takeover. quote from the article “How many people come to Twitter for news? As it turns out, a LOT”, People come to Twitter for many reasons. As it turns out, one of the biggest is to stay informed about current events.
- 94% of people on Twitter express interest in current events
- 85% of people on Twitter watch, read, or listen to the news at least once a day
- 83% of people on Twitter Tweet about news
for this news, Twitter closed at a price of $52 per share on Oct. 4, following the news of Musk’s planned acquisition. That reflects a 22.2% increase from the previous day’s close of $42.54.
Why even though TikTok and Instagram make video-making feasible, the text is still the main method of expression since it is easy to use, can be fragmentized, and has content diversity.
2.
“Sometimes I use Twitter to do user research, see what people complain about specific products and contact them to talk more.”
Twitter users may not expect their tweets can be the traits of their lives. In the article “What does Twitter know about me”, just like Facebook and Google, Twitter collects an astonishing amount of personal information about you even if you never log in. This includes:
- Every tweet you’ve ever posted.
- Every device you use Twitter on.
- Locations from where you’ve tweeted.
- Your interests and any other topics you care about.
- The apps or websites you frequent, and more.
After people noticed that Twitter can suspend and ban people based on what they say, data privacy and expression rights have been brought up again. In the first half of 2020 alone, Twitter suspended roughly 925,000 accounts for rules violations. Having a platform to express thoughts also means the potential risk of getting banned by the platform.
“We cheered for banning some opinions because we happen to hold the different one.” A WeChat user said, “we have a group chat that only posts pictures in case our speech will get tracked.”
Where is the safest place to present the real thoughts, this is the second problem that is brought up for users.
3.
A feminist scholar has claimed many times on Weibo:
“If you like my thoughts, read. But don’t follow me here.” She spends 1 hour per day removing new followers. Not knowing who follow her has become the biggest trouble because of potential complaints. You can’t be sure the followers will be happy with your posts, all the time. With the power to cancel, everyone can be the judge.
Text is easy to make, and easy to be tracked. Social media is not only about attention and characters, but also about the fine line.
4.
How to create a vibe that everyone likes to contribute?
Tweeting whenever you have thoughts decides that you will get live information on the platform.
Story on Instagram decides you can post live status without ruining the curation of your Instagram account.
Having trendy news section decides users’ motivations will be seeking hit news or gossip.
So to build an encouraging vibe needs:
Content foundation for hints and setting the vibe;
Champion users for traffic and content contribution;
Features to solve champion users’ needs;
Features and positive rewards to encourage all users to engage;
System to protect privacy, data, copyright, freedom of speaking, and users themselves.
5.
Self-expression involves any activity where we can transfer the energy from our thoughts and feelings into another form. And, usually, this makes us feel better. That’s the reason that even some people don’t have many followers but are still willing to talk via social media.
“I want to have people watch me venting and share the same feelings, but also not want them to watch so I will be more comfortable to say things.”
To say or not to say, this question still awaits its answer.
Read the full article here
