Observation One

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Twitter Feed
This observation was taken on a one-hour window of feed on my own Twitter media
feed. The observations taken here will be listed as X amount of minutes ago. For
example, once I started the observation if there was a post 15 minutes prior to that
my notes will say 15 minutes ago.
Figured World: a group of people, whether it be in a geographical location or just a
similar people on a national or even worldwide scale, that that share common
interests. They also have ways on communicating and interacting that are
considered normal and accepted throughout the world.
The figured world I intend to observe is social media. More specifically I will be
observing the social media platform Twitter. I chose to observe Twitter because of my
enjoyment in reading through the posts people make. Also I find it fascinating the way
people communicate is a cyber environment as opposed to a face to face interaction. It
interests me to see how bold people can become when behind a keyboard.
My figured world for this portfolio will be Twitter. Typically people tend to frequent this
website on the mobile apps downloaded on their cell phones. It is also accessible through
computer as well. The type of community you interact with on your feed is completely
dependent on you the user. The individual has the freedom to follow anyone he or she
chooses. Your feed can vary anywhere from young children (yes there are some children)
to adults that arguably have no idea how to use the site. One can also choose to receive
feeds from informational accounts that range anywhere from comedy and humor to sports
highlights and even news stories. Individuals may post small 140 character comments,
pictures, and videos.. As far as restrictions go for posting, there are virtually none. People
can post whatever they desire with no restrictions. The only way for it to be removed is to
have enough people report to comment. Still then a harmful comment may not be
removed. Personally I have never seen a tweet be removed even if it probably shouldve
been. But even if it happens to be successfully removed, by then the damage has been
done and the comment has been made. Therefore, it is mainly up to the community to
decide what comments are appropriate and which are not. Depending on how an
individual sees Twitter should be used, they may post things they find humorous or even
may express something that is bothering them in their daily life. The user can post their
ideas no matter how crude, pointless, or immature it is. For example, one could post
something hurtful or rude to another person. We hear about it all the time and see videos
about it but nothing ever really changes. Younger users of the media source dont
understand their actions can hurt other people and because of this say things to others
without thinking. That is not to say there is not an understood decorum that people are
expected to follow when posting. When talking to another individual in person there are
understood rules or courtesies that are taken into account. You are respectful to the other
individual and not rude. There is no reason why these same behaviors should not be
followed when conversing over the internet. One is responsible, just as in any other

conversation, to think about what they say in order to not seriously offend others. Now
this does not mean that comments made do not offend people in certain instances. In
some cases this can cause some altercations or problems for the individual not only on
the media source but especially later on in the professional world. In the figured world of
Twitter I expect to find different communities based on interests to a certain topic or age
groups discussing a similar problem they are encountering.

Actors: All the members in a community that perform their roles or duties that
allow the community to function. This figured world includes a wide variety of
people of all different ages and races.
The Relatable Tweeter: Just like the college student I described in my observation, there
will usually be a few individuals who will continually post about relatable topics. In this
case he brought up the past times of tailgating and football and his personal excitement
for those activities. Other followers noticed this post and all either favorite or responded
to show they agreed with him or felt the same way. These relatable tweets could be about
anything from sports to personal stances but one always manages to find a couple
relatable posts while scrolling through their feed.
The Comedy Poster: This is the individual that will constantly retweet accounts that
post jokes about certain subjects with mass appeal. Like the account that posted the life is
so expensive comment. Its not far off to say that at some point in time everyone on the
Twitter social media source has played a part in this role. Whether it be a simple joke that
was retweeted or a comment made that one felt was humorous to people we have all done
it.
The Pointless Poster: This individual will be in any social media source you can find. It
is unavoidable that there will be at least one person who posts things that have so
relevance or significance to anyone else except themselves. An example would be the
person in observation one that says things such as I need some entertainment. Most
people find these tweets extremely annoying seeing as they are irrelevant. For whatever
reason the posters of these tweets cannot see this and will continue to post these absurd
statement until the day they stop using social media.
The Meal Poster: Though a very small percentage of the figured world as a whole, these
individuals continue to make an entire platform suffer all at once. As they post their
meals that typically look delicious and enticing they aim to make others jealous. Not only
that but they have the ability to make a hungry person that much hungrier. For example,
in my first observation posted a picture of her breakfast at Panera that looked
exceptionally good. Whether they do it just to show people what theyre eating or purely
to make people jealous that is up to the individual but it seems to be a habit that has
picked up in the last year significantly.

Official Sports Account: The name speakers for itself on this one. Anything from NFL
to NHL and everything in between there is a franchise sponsored account that will posts
updates about their teams. Any true sports fan typically follows their teams. For example
in my Twitter feed two common posters are the Buffalo Bills and the Buffalo Sabres. To
them this is an essential account to have when game time comes. Even if an individual
couldnt watch the big game they can still get the updates in a quick, accessible way.

Artifacts: This is the common interest. The physical object, idea, etc. that is shared
by the community. In this figured world it is typically a sports team or other hobby
or set of values a group of people share.
Therapy: A lot of people post their problems whether personal or not on Twitter looking
for advice or sympathy. In a way people begin using the site as a sort of therapy. People
comment and give their perspective or try and comfort the individual as seen in my
second observation with the girl in legal trouble. To see this is very encouraging because
people will take time out of their day to attempt to cheer up an individual. In return the
individual that was once having trouble can then help another person also in a dilemma.
Comedy: Another artifact people find important is comedy. Without it life would be very
dry. So we as human beings try to find the little humors in our lives and laugh about
them. For example, the abs tweet in my second observation was made simply to make
people laugh. When someone tweets something comedic it is usually because they found
it humorous. Not only that but I believe its also because since it made them laugh they
want to share it and make someone elses day a little better.
Communities of Practice: These are created when people in the figured world
interact and communicate together in order to explore their common domain.
The Comedians As stated before a good number of
people enjoy the humor that is posted. These groups of
people follow each other in order to gain exposure to
more and more funny posts. There are endless comedy
accounts as seen in my observations. Not only that but
they share comments or picture they find funny with
others following them in their community.
Sports Fanatics These are the ones that live and
breathe sports. If there is a game on TV you can bet
they will be posting about it. They will comment on
others posts and give their input. In their communities
there will be conversations, and arguments, about every
sport known to man. When the game is on everyone
picks a side and the cheering starts.
Photo compliments of the website FSU News

Domain: This is an area of interest or expertise that the figured world shares
Sports: It is no secret that our societys free time endeavors revolves heavily around
sports and sporting events. All my observations had at least one mention of sports
somewhere in it. Anytime sports are mentioned you can guarantee this will arouse a
conversation that could last numerous hours. It can be about any sport, any team, any
number of plays but one will always see a conversation start when athletics are
mentioned.
Music: This comes in many forms on Twitter. One of the most commons forms is
accounts that post lyrics to songs, or other individuals that post song lyrics. Another way
is to post music videos for songs. This helps others show what songs they enjoy and help
relate to others with similar interests.
Practices of the Community: The practices of a community are the actions taken to
learn together as a whole while pursuing a greater knowledge for a common interest
Discussing the Big Game: One of the practices of this community is to discuss the big
game that is on that day. People will talk about who they think will win and about the
statistics of players. In observation on the subject was USC versus ECU. Individuals
argue back and forth about whos better and why based on facts. In the end whoevers
team wins has the ultimate bragging rights.
Providing Support: One thing about the community is that when someone is struggling
with something and makes it known others will make an effort to help. As in the case of
the girl worried about her legal position. In many communities people worry about
themselves and thats all that matters. What is amazing about this specific community is
that some people actually care about what others are saying and would like to help.
Literacy Practices: The different ways the individuals communicate in a figured
world or community
Replies: When someone posts an original comment that in itself is a way to
communicate. But to take it one step further anyone that wants can reply to a comment
and share their ideas. This way people form full conversations with other people.
Favorites & Retweets: To favorite or retweet something essentially both have the same
implied meaning. If someone is scrolling through their feed and sees a tweet that they
agree with or find funny or true they have the option To retweet or favorite it. To the
original poster of the tweet it goes without saying that the other individual agreed with
your comment or found it funny. A tweet can have any number of retweets. Personally I
have seen as few as one and as many as one million. It all just depends on how popular
the account.
Interview Q/A

In one interview with my sister, an avid twitter user, I decided to ask her various
questions about use of social media. Typical questions included asking her opinion on
why Twitter conversations were different from face to face one, and also how this
interaction affects an individuals ability to communicate with others. Her response
summarized was somewhere along the lines of Twitter conversation includes shorter, less
personal conversations and results in poor real world communication skills. Her input on
this subject is relevant because just a short time ago she was a teenager using Twitter like
many other young people and now that she is out in the real world she sees the effects it
can have on the professional individual.
Explain your thoughts on what Twitter and other social media sources seek to
provide, and ultimately accomplish with their provided service.
The goal of social media such as Twitter is to keep friends in faraway places in touch. It
lets us see what is going on in everyone's life on a daily basis. This would not be possible
in any other form of communication. You can spend 10 minutes on Facebook or Twitter
and see what 25 of your friends have done today. It would be impossible to call all 25 of
those people in the same amount of time just to see what they have done today.
In what ways do you utilize the social media source Twitter to interact with peers
and the world around you?
I use social media such as Twitter to keep up with my friends on a daily basis, share joke
with friends, and comments on their posts. I also use it to keep up with the latest news
from my favorite sports teams and celebrities.

Compare and contrast Twitter conversation and real world face-to-face

conversation.
Twitter conversations are usually much shorter than face-to-face conversations and do
not contain as much detail. They also tend to be less personal because you can't see the
person you are speaking to.
Give me your opinion on social media interaction, more specifically Twitter, and
how it is affecting an individuals ability to communicate in a real world situation?
Twitter uses a lot of slang, abbreviations, and short, incomplete sentences. In the real
world you are expected to use real words and speak in complete sentences. Twitter is
conditioning us to do the complete opposite, resulting in poor face to face conversation
and effective communication skills.
In our society freedom of speech is important. On Twitter do you feel people take
that liberty too far? If so how would you propose that problem be resolved?
I believe people take the liberty too far in twitter when posting rude, mean, or harmful
things about other people. It is easier to say these things behind a keyboard but the people

posting these things do not realize the harm they are doing to the person they are posting
about. There is no real way to control this other than other twitter users reporting the post
so that it is deleted, but by then the damage is done and someone's feelings are hurt.

Photo courtesy of the website Middle Tennessee Music

The Observation: Starts 11:15 am September 4
3m ago: Someone posts and say that they just ran two miles, and due to the heat and
humidity, cannot breathe. Another friend jokingly responds to this jokingly says thats
not a bad thing
9m ago: A college student says he is ready to get this tailgate started for the football
game so he can be nice and ready for the game. Another individual comments and asks
what school he goes to. He responds back USC in reference to South Carolina not
southern California. The original comment along with the statement about attending USC
receive three favorites each alluding to the fact that people found it humorous or are also
ready for the USC vs. ECU game.
16m: An individual retweets a comedy account that states BEING ALIVE IS SO
EXPENSIVE. She clearly found this humorous and in total that tweet had received 215
retweets and 100 favorites from various other people.
25m ago: A girl comments and says, I need some entertainment. This seems to be quite
pointless as she is obviously the only one that understands what she is talking about.
26m ago: A girl posts a picture of her breakfast at Panera. It looks very good to some
people and her picture receives some favorites from other individuals.

26m ago: The same girl that made the last pointless tweet has said This is so boring.
Yet again it has no relevance to anyone else reading it because they have to clue what she
is discussing.
34m ago: An ad for Bud Light is now present on the feed. This is an odd ad to be out up
at 10:45 am. I understand that the company would like to advertise but a more
appropriate time would probably be later afternoon and at night.
35m ago: The official Buffalo Bills page posts a picture with a caption. The picture is and
edited picture of their quarter back EJ Manuel that blurs all his surroundings and leaves
his a the only sharpened imaged in order to emphasize his figure. The caption reads SO.
CLOSE referring to the Sunday NFL football.
44m: A college student complains about his schedule and the times that they are giving
away shirts for rush week. He says that his classes are scheduled during all the t-shirt
give away times and wont be able to get one.
50m: Two of my friends from my hockey team want to come visit and ask me when the
most will be going on at the school. I respond that weekends are usually pretty dead but
that they should come during homecoming because there are numerous events.
1h ago: There is a small picture from and account called Life Hacks that has basic
grammar mistakes not to make such as your/youre, couldve/could of,
their/there/theyre, and of course to/too/two.
Observation Two
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Twitter Feed
Observation: starts 11:45 am September 9th
3m ago: A comedy account is retweeted that said I just want to have absolutely all the
pasta and breadsticks. This is obviously supposed to relate to others who want abs but
want good food more. It is in a way making fun of people who complain about not having
abs but eat unhealthy.
8m ago: A boy posts a picture from a lifted trucks account. The account posts pictures of
cool trucks that appeal to a lot of individuals. The particular person is country and enjoys
trucks and wishes to share with others his idea of a cool truck he desires to own.
10m ago: The same boy retweets another picture from the same account.
11m ago: An account called Filthy Rich Snaps posts a picture of a tricked out Land
Rover. This account posts picture people Snapchat that provide a look into the life of
people with insane amounts of money.

15m ago: UNCC IFCs twitter account tweets saying that there are a lot of great rush
events going on this week and to stay tuned for more details. This tweet was obviously
for fraternities to advertise themselves and try to gain pledges.
18m ago: A girl posts the single word whatever. This is the typical girl who tweets about
things no one understands. It is completely irrelevant and most people dont understand
or care because it is typically relationship problems.
26m ago: A girl posts that apparently she could go to jail for up to 60 days and that she is
extremely pissed at her lawyer. People reply asking what happened and if there is
anything they can do or if she needs someone to talk to for comfort.
31m ago: The Official Buffalo Sabres hockey team page posts about their new draft pick
named Reinhart. They have a link about his top rankings in the draft how they have two
top 10 draft picks. The link is there for their fans convenience.
35m ago: A life hack account posts a life lesson about the most important lessons we
learn in life are sometimes the ones we learn the hard way. Though not much of an actual
life hack it is something that can be inspiration to the individual.
41m ago: A girl posts about getting sick and missing classes. She says she wont be
getting out of bed all day and is happy about that. Again the post is mostly irrelevant to
anyone reading it but she obviously thought she would express this to people.
48m ago: Someone retweets and account that mentions fall weather and its slow
approach. Many people are excited for the season and the particular tweet received 17
retweets and 9 favorites which proves this.
Observation 3: starts 4:45 pm September 11
1m ago: A fact account says It would take 1.2 million mosquitoes, each sucking once, to
completely drain the average human of blood. Twitter is full of cool facts accounts whose
sole purpose is for little entertainments through out the day. Other than that, its typically
useless trivia facts.
10m ago: a life hacking account says for most math books you can get answers to
assignments by simply searching the name of your textbook and then answers. This
was posted because it would be helpful to most likely tons of individuals.
14m ago: A girl posts a picture with a boy. They are hugging and under it the caption
reads Happy birthday. She obviously posted this to show her appreciation for this
person and to show she remembered and cared.

18m ago: An account posts a famous picture from 9/11 of two people jumping out of one
of the towers while holding hands. Its caption discusses how even in a persons final
moments they will sometimes need a helping hand.
19m ago: A girl quotes the song by Kenny Chesney that says tequila makes her clothes
fall of. She was most likely listening to the song and liked the song so decided to tweet
it so other people would think about the song too.
26m ago: A girl tweets and says S/O to Chris for listening to my vent session.
Obviously she was having problems and she needed someone to talk to so her listened.
She decided to show her appreciation by letting people know what he did.
30m ago: Buffalo Bills official page tells all fans to come see them take on the Miami
Dolphins. Then there is a link to lick to go by tickets. They obviously are trying to sll
tickets and gain support from the fans.
34m ago: An account is retweeted that posted a picture of a white Audi R8 with white
rims. The guy that retweeted it must have thought it was a cool car and wanted others to
see it. Apparently so did others because it was retweeted 1000 times and favorite 1500
times.
39m ago: An account called fascinating videos posts a video of a man in a warehouse
knocking over huge shelves with a forklift. The caption under the video says, Think you
had a bad day? This was posted to make people laugh and show even if you think your
day is bad it could be worse.
45m ago: A girl posts talking about how college is a game of seeing how late you can
wake up and still make it to class. It must have been funny to a lot of college students
because 1200 people retweeted it.
49m ago: Someone posts about eating too much McDonalds. This is another tweet that no
one really cares about. It is irrelevant to everyone reading it. She most likely posted it to
make people want hungry and jealous she had McDonalds.
55m ago: Apple has an advertisement for their new IPhone 6. This will be a huge product
release and they are guaranteed to make tons of money. They almost dont need the ad
because everyone knows about it already.
1h ago: There is a picture of a real life collage made of tons of small portraits. After
reading the caption it becomes clear there are 2.996 photos there. Each one is a picture of
an individual that lost their life in the 9/11 attacks. This picture serves to make people on
twitter stop to just think about that day and pay their respects.