What makes up a tweet?

Twitter revolves around the aspect of sharing information, and within the site users utilize many different ways to get this information across to their followers. McNeill (2011) believes that the diary 'seamlessly absorbs, sponge-like, the functions and the audiences of other forms (i.e. the list, the dialogue, the almanac, the report) in order to serve the needs of the individual diarist'. I found this to be true within the network as users can use hash-tags to connect their information to an event, person or even a feeling, they can use re-tweeting as a way to promote other messages they believe to be important and can also use photos to show their followers firsthand what is happening. There are many different aspects of a tweet and when all used together they can make the tweet seem like a small diary entry, although, the entry is limited in its effectiveness as the users are limited to 140 characters to get their message out into the world.

 According to Van Luyn (2013) ' Genres are dialogues; they form links in the chain of speech communication'. Twitters diary-like genre ensures that users can stay connected with each other, learning what is new in each others lives, while still being able to gain the feeling of closeness and authenticity of the author.

I have noticed that an area of Twitter that will not be tolerated is impersonation. Twitter has a system where celebrities accounts are verified so followers can be assured they are not following a fake account. Most people within the network communicate in a relaxed manner about anything and everything, it is easy to spot those who are their real selves from those accounts who, I suspect, aren't used by the user themselves but by others who use the account to promote activities and new releases as these accounts do not include the information on real life day to day activities that we are accustomed to seeing in diary entries.

References
McNeill, L. (2011). Diary 2.0? A Genre Moves From Page To Screen, Language and New Media: Linguistic, Cultural and Technological Evolutions. Cresskill,New Jersey: Hampton Press Inc.


Van Luyn, A. (2013). BA1002: Our space: networks, narratives and the making of place, Week 6. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au

Image References
Twitter hashtag marketing. Retrieved from: http://onlinebizinformation.com/how-to-twitter-the-twitter-hashtag/