Is Twitter an Individual Mass Communication Medium?

Is Twitter an Individual Mass

Communication Medium?

Helga Wiesenhofer, Martin Ebner, Walther Nagler

Technology enhanced Learning

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uLearning and m-Learning

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Twitter grows 1382% within one year

What are we doing?

107% Learning

-96% Sex

What are we doing?

57% Leisure

-95% Money

Twitter Stream at ED-Media2008

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Research Question: Can we find an appropriate

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Basic communication forms(Littlejohn, 1992)

Interpersonal communication(face to face)

Group communication (more than two persons)

Organisational communication (in large cooperative networks)

Mass communication (public and mediated communication)

Basic Transmission Model

The field-schema of Mass Communication (Maletzke, 1963)

Model Adaption to Twitter (1)

Adaption to the definition of mass communication:

Messages (Tweets) are sent public by different communicators (Twitter users) through a medium (Twitter application) to different receivers (Followers/public timeline)

Tweets are indirect and unidirectional for an undefined public

Model Adaption to Twitter (2)

Interpersonal Communication → Directed Tweets

Group Communication → within a group of followers

Organisational Communication → Tweets outside a group of followers

Mass Communication → Tweets in general

Model Adaption to Twitter (3)

Conclusion

compatibility between traditional communication models and Twitter

Twitter enables mass communication

Tweets are public, indirect and unilateral and get through an electronic medium to an undefined audience

Unlike traditionalmedia like TV, radioand newspaper Twitteroffers the possibility of an individual masscommunicationmedia

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SOCIAL LEARNINGComputer and Information Services

Graz University of Technology

Walther Nagler, Martin Ebner

http://elearning.tugraz.at

http://elearningblog.tugraz.at

@walthern, @mebner