Robin Blandford [ ByteSurgery.com ]

14/03/08 Microblogging - @Symbolic #Language

SINGAPORE - I wrote a post last month about “The Language of Bebo” and how giving youth their own private language is vital to success of any youth directed service. Microblogging has adopted a number of similar language intricacies that unless you use the service, you won’t understand. I would detect that these came from the limited character count that SMS imposes. A blessing in disguise?

Imagine a service that self-advertises through the language your users use. It can be quoted, copied, translated, edited, rewritten but will still advertise your service through the inclusion of @’s and #’s. Messages can have @username to direct it to a person, or #tag to mark it about a topic or event. Invent your own language - you form a cult. More importantly, you give people a sense of belonging, a feeling of ownership.

The magic 140 characters - while other systems are trying to increase the volume of transportable content, SMS limited microblogging to 140 chars. This was just what the web needed - making people think about what they are saying to fit it a small, compact, packet for their readers. Ever had an IM conversation with someone who writes paragraphs before pressing [send]? “John is typing…”, “John is typing…”, “John is typing…”. No longer - it suddenly became fast messages contained to incredibly high rate of information-value per character.

(Image Credit: An amazing mutton curry for S$7 sitting in-front of the main Muslim Mosque in Singapore. A food-type that advertised its culture, globally. Last weekend by author.)

Tags: jaiku, language, messages, sms, symbols

6 Comments

---

14/03/08 gregory

you might like this http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_best_tools_for_visualization.php
a selection of the visual side of the global tech thing

---

14/03/08 gregory

and this one

http://flowingdata.com/2008/03/12/17-ways-to-visualize-the-twitter-universe/

---

14/03/08 Robin Blandford

2 superb links right up my street.

@antonmannering… check these out.

---

15/03/08 gregory

this is another guy you might like, just like you are cutting edge communication implicatrions, he is cutting edge tech economics implications with a remarkable mind and style…. http://www.bubblegeneration.com

---

15/03/08 gregory

this is another guy you might like, just as you are writing about cutting edge communication implications, he is cutting edge tech economics implications with a remarkable mind and style…. http://www.bubblegeneration.com

---

17/03/08 Robin Blandford [ ByteSurgery.com - Digital Media Engineering ] » Blog Archive » Microblogging - Continuing The Conversation

[...] « Microblogging - @Symbolic #Language [...]

---

Write Comment

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail

---

---