TheTwitterAge(NFPWHighSchoolCommunicationsContestSecondPlaceforBlog/Column)

May 4, 2014 by Paulitical | Leave a comment

Why short is the new long in political communications.
by Joon Lee
Twitter. In 140 characters the website is able to sum up the hopes, desires, daily routines
and ideologies of millions worldwide. If the latter half of the 1900s was the age of
television, then the 21st century is the age of Twitter.
Marshall McLuhan once wrote that the medium is the message. Mediums of
communication change with time and directly reflect our cultural philosophies and
values. The emergence of Twitter as the dominant communication medium, therefore, is
more than just a simple coincidence or a fluke in technological advancement. It is
instead a perfect reflection of the cultural zeitgeist of the information age.
Of course, its important to point out that the so-called Twitter age is still in its
introductory phases. Although we are often lured by romantic stories of Twitter-fueled
democratic revolutions, only around 16% of adults in the United States currently use
Twitter. Nonetheless, the number of users is constantly growing, and that list now
includes a number of influential figures. 75% of heads of state have accounts on Twitter,
with many using it as a method to communicate with voters and supporters.
What, then, makes Twitter a medium representative of our cultural values? And what
does this suggest is the future of Twitter as a part of the democratic process?
To look at this question, its important to first analyze some of the key functions of the
platform. For one, Twitter is extremely brief: it caps expression at a paltry 140
characters. Twitter is also an interactive medium: instead of simply consuming
information, Twitter encourages users to re-disseminate that information through the
process of re-tweeting. It is, in short, a service where the act of sharing rules supreme.
Finally, it is important to look at the uniquely Twitter-ian concept that is the hashtag.
The hashtag allows multiple ideas to be consolidated and organized into one collective
whole.
Lets start with the 140 character limit. Twitters encouragement of brevity is a perfect
representation of our societys obsession with speed. The growth of the Internet has
transformed communication into an instantaneous activity. Information is now
expected to be shared in the quickest, most efficient manner possible. We are now
flooded with so much data, text and information on a minute-by-minute basis that there

is simply no time to fully process it all. It is, as Pew Research puts it, the age of instant
gratification and quick fixes.
Twitter perfectly embodies this mentality. By limiting all posts to a few sentences, it
strips down communication to its bare bones.
Twitters adoption into the political communications world, therefore, is interesting to
examine. Politicians now interact with the public through 140 character bursts of
information. Sure, this is an efficient and timely medium; it is now possible for
politicians to communicate with the public in real time. However, the 140 character
ceiling puts a severe limitation on what can be said.
As a medium, Twitter is fundamentally unfriendly towards details and complexity.
Unfortunately, many aspects of the political system cannot be simplified into a 140character Tweet. Therefore, Twitter offers its users an incomplete and rather oversimplified view of politics. Furthermore, its sharing-based platform also serves as the
perfect breeding ground for political misinformation. This raises some concern about
Twitter, as access to accurate and well-balanced information is key to public
engagement. How can a culture of public engagement be nurtured if we are not properly
informed on the actions of our governments?
Of course, Twitters impact on democracy has also been positive. By now, everyone has
heard the feel-good stories of Arab Spring revolutions organized through Twitter. As
mentioned earlier, Twitter encourages re-tweeting and sharing. Through hashtagging, it
also groups together similar ideas and Tweets. These aspects of Twitter encourage group
thought and group action. Sharing and hashtagging through Twitter allows for the
convergence of similar ideas and individuals; furthermore, it allows for the rapid
broadcasting of information across large number of people. This has made Twitter
custom-tailored to be the medium of choice for revolutionaries worldwide.
Although Twitter-led group thought has supported revolutions and cooperative
initiatives, it has also allowed for the emergence of mob mentality. Author Joyce Carol
Oates even compared Twitter to a lynch mob. I have already written about the
overwhelming impact of the Internet on democracy in Korea, where Twitter has often
fallen victim to vicious mob mentalities. Scapegoating and public humiliation a
process dubbed witch-hunting in Korea has become extremely popular among
Twitter users.
Such examples, however, are visible around the world. In Japan, the far-right neto
uyo have used Twitter to share xenophobic and extremist opinions. In the United
States, Coca Colas America is Beautiful advertisement led to a fierce backlash on
Twitter, where masses of angered Internet users vented their racist and over-nationalist

sentiments on the website. Encouraged by hashtags such as #boycottCoke, xenophobia

spread like wildfire across the Twitter community.
What Twitter presents to us, therefore, is an entirely new method of communication:
one that is brief, social, and highly interactive. In a democratic political system, where
communication is key, such a change has long-lasting ripples. Twitter may encourage
cooperation and revolution, but it has also allowed for vicious mob mentalities and
misinformation to grow. Our future mission, therefore, will be nurturing an online
culture where Twitter can be utilized as an effective tool for democracy.
Perhaps most importantly, however, Twitter allows us to reflect as a society. Both its
positives and negatives are all firmly rooted in the cultural and social norms of our time.
Looking back from the future, Twitter may indeed be the defining cultural artifact of our
decade.