Who has the power in a network where everyone can say what they want when they want? The virtual network that I have chosen to use for the duration of this blog is Twitter. A network that ranges from Hollywood stars and giant companies to people like you and me. I chose Twitter as my focus for this subject because I had no experience with this network prior to joining three weeks ago.
In my wanderings of Twitter I have found it hard to 'map' out a group that I am a part of, as Barnes said in this week's readings - "Tracing 'routes' is an important step in the development of spatial cognition that is impossible on the Web" (Barnes 1997). Since I created my Twitter account I have felt like I was on the outside looking in on the people that 'control' the network, with their millions of followers.
Although my experience with Twitter has been limited to a few weeks I can already see where the power is concentrated. Twitter is all about social interactions and the power you have as a user, is directly related to the amount of followers you have. As Allen put it 'Power is a relational effect of social interaction.' (Allen 2003). The power granted by Twitter doesn't give celebrities with millions of followers, control over you but it does allow them to get their point of view across to millions of people in a matter of minutes, for example if they had a bad experience at a restaurant and voiced this to their followers, their followers would have a negative feeling about the restaurant, without having been there, purely because someone on Twitter said it was bad. This isn't what most people would associate with the standard idea of power, but when most of society is trying to be like their favourite stars; the way they dress, cars they drive, products they endorse, Twitter becomes a very powerful tool indeed.
Reference list:
"Tracing 'routes' is an important step in the development of spatial cognition that is impossible on the Web" - Barnes, G 1997: Passage of the Flaneur
'Power is a relational effect of social interaction.' Allen, J. 2003: Introduction: Lost Geographies of Power
Top post Adam.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, twitter is perhaps the most interesting of the entire popular social media website in the fact that high profile celebrities are so willing to embrace it with open arms. Never before has the general public been able to interact with such a vast array of public figures and in such an open forum. To be in virtually instantaneous contact with the movers and shakers of society, to be privy to the intimate events of their life, completely removes the physical barrier that had previously separated the two parties. For mine, this would be an excellent example of associational power through either cooperation or competition (Petray, 2013). Celebrities voice their opinion/share content with their fan base for ‘retweets’ for increased popularity and influence (completion). Additionally, the followers respond to the posted content with the reward of being acknowledged by the community and their heroes (cooperation) and thus empowering multiple parties in the process.
Reference List:
Petray, T. (2013). Power: big brother and self-surveillance (Lecture slides week 2). Retrieved From: https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-1234213-dt-content-rid-940576_1/courses/13-BA1002-TSV-INT-SP2/BA1002%20Lecture%202.pdf?target=blank
Nice post Adam! Your description of Twitter is exactly how I see it. I am not a member myself but I can relate to your statement “Since I created my Twitter account I have felt like I was on the outside looking in on the people that 'control' the network, with their millions of followers.” leads me to think of Barnes’s “Passage of the Cyber-Flaneur”. Being new to a social network can hinder your ability to navigate and recognise the platform for which you are now a ‘part’ of. The perception of being an outsider forces your persona to emulate a ‘Cyber-Flaneur’ whereby you lurk and watch all that is happening around you with little participation in the purpose of the network. Becoming a Cyber-Flaneur is not something you can avoid when faced with a new program, it is a way for you to familiarise yourself without getting out of your comfort zone. Twitter can be a powerful tool but I suppose it depends if you have power in the first place. To me Twitter is another marketing tool for the rich and powerful to share their lives but on the other hand it can be useful in popularising a cause or communicating a recent event. It is almost like Facebook-minus the face.
ReplyDeleteHey Adam! I really enjoyed reading your blog about the power focus of twitter and how twitter users can gain power. I believe you are correct when you say that we can be very influential with what is said online, especially if they are a famous celebrity that people idolise and I honestly think that is quite scary that they contain so much power. “internet is of a dizzingly free zone. On it information is easily accessible. One can say anything to anyone. (Turkle, 1995, p. 247) I also thought it was clever how you added in the pun about “mapping out” which group you belonged too, especially because we learnt a lot about mapping this week and I’m not sure if it was your intention at all but I thought it was quite humorous. I believe it's quite brave of you to take on a new virtual world and fully take in a new experience for this assessment.
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