For years, the term “status update” evoked nothing so much as a dull report, drily delivered. But status updates have emerged as one of the hottest -- and friendliest -- features of social networking.
Spurred by the popularity of Twitter Inc. , the messaging service whose sole focus is letting people share 140-character status updates, sites from Goodreads to LinkedIn to MySpace and Hi5 have added little text boxes that let their users tell the world in a phrase or two what they’re doing, working on, thinking about, and reading.
Some think these short messages are shallow timewasters. But status updates have taken off because people find them to be a surprisingly meaningful way to connect with others, at home or at work.
While many technologies make people feel more distant from each other, the quality of “ambient intimacy” or “co-presence,” which is the sense that you’re aware of and sharing experiences with people in your network -- even when you’re nowhere near each other physically -- makes people feel closer. This kind of ambient intimacy is encouraged by micromessaging, which allows people to talk about little life details and fleeting thoughts, tidbits that don’t fit into any other medium, but that one might share when next to a friend, family member, or co-worker.
In short, micromessaging forges the kind of personal connectedness that’s long been a promise of technology, but has eluded widespread adoption on the Internet until recently.
Short status messages first appeared years ago in instant message systems like Yahoo Messenger and AOL Instant Messenger, which give users the option to post an “away message” telling others why they’re unavailable. People -- especially high school and college students -- used the space as an area for expression, letting friends know what they were up to all the time and checking in on each other.
But the form didn’t start spreading until 2006. That spring, Twitter launched, and right around the same time, Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) added its status updates feature, calling it “a lightweight way for people to give little updates to their friends.”
Twitter now has somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 million registered users, while status updates have become a very popular feature of Facebook, meriting their own page on each profile. By 2008, more than 250 Twitter clones worldwide let people share their status updates, and professional sites like Plaxo added related features.
The brevity of status updates means they’re easy for people to create and consume, and that low-impact quality, combined with the importance of sharing information about what you’re working on or whom you’re meeting with, makes short status messages a great fit for the workplace. Several micromessaging applications that launched this fall, including Yammer and Present.ly, are tailored specifically for internal company communications.
People who use these systems say that one of the chief benefits is a much greater and very welcome ambient awareness about co-workers, particularly (but not exclusively) those who work in remote offices. At the same time, the flow of short messages helps reduce or possibly eliminate the unwelcome (and often unread) status updates of old -- that is, long emails and boring meetings.
— Sarah Milstein is a consultant on Web 2.0 and editorial strategies
The distinction between "close" versus "connected" is an interesting one, Terry. While it could add up to the same thing for some people, for others, it probably depends not only on the nature of the relationship between the people involved, but also the kinds of things they post about and the frequency.
If they post very seldomly, or way too often, that might not lead to any greater sense of intimacy. Likewise, to jonnomh's point aobut the quality of messages, when people share only information like "Packing" or "Eating lunch" or links to their own blog posts, none of us would expect that to spark a feeling of closeness (or connection, for that matter).
But when people post at least a few times a week, and they share details, thoughts, opinions, hopes, and links to things they care about (with commentary), that can resonate with the people following them and lead to both a feeling of connected and closeness.
That said, if somebody felt a little more connected through status updates but no closer to other people, I wouldn't say they were doing it wrong--just having a different experience.
I really don't know the one who introduced the apparent confusion you are referring to but itn is quite clear from the subject of the Post that the Author was having 'connected' in mind. The last time i checked my dictionary(which i seldomly do because i hate learning new words) Foster means to promote, encourage, advacnce and i certainly can't see any one disputing the fact that Status Updates does not fuether personal connected.
Whether that 'connectedness' can be translated into 'closeness' depends on the emotional level of the relationship. Even a Status Update on some mudane random snack food can certainly get my heart fired up if it only emanates from the 'right' people. A guy who defame himself and bring ridicule to his beliefs certainly does not worth my recognition courtsey of his shoe-throwing!!!!
I wonder if we aren't confusing "feeling close" with "feeling connected." I actually really enjoy the status updates for friends and family who live outside my metro area. A big part of my connection to anyone is that day-to-day tracking of each other -- the joys, triumphs, rants, problems, mood shifts, projects etc. that these technologies allow us to track/follow.
So these updates help me feel more connected -- but do I feel any closer to them as a reuslt? Debatable. Ranting for 15 minutes about the guy who cut me off on the freeway or mutually appreciating in real time -- on the phone or in person -- the shoe-throwing Iraqi creates closeness AND connection. It's a moment we're sharing at the same time, not some TiVo'd, time-shifted personal update about a random snack food.
I agree that Twitter fosters a bit of personal connectedness. I have gotten to know some acquaintances better via their tweets, and actually enjoy hearing 'status updates" from some friends / relatives.
I will say that generally speaking, I don't care much for generic status updates. I can find it a little interesting when someone mentions where they are at since perhaps we could meet or I could ask to get reviews (if it's a kewl bar or restaurant). But really - ask yourself first if you would care if someone else "tweeted" that. If you are getting takeout - and don't mention where or why - does it really matter? Are you getting something for me?
I'd also offer a recommendation - don't automatically add someone to receive phone updates. I have a select few friends or people of interest that I follow via phone. Most people I just read about on the site itself - usually daily or so. With unlimited txting, I don't mind the number of tweets so much - I just hate bothering to check my phone when it is something like "i am drinking milk".
status updates are a good way of looking present so atleast people post on your wall or send you some quick messages as opposed to when you are just silent and absent. In this way you could say the foster connectivity,
"Status updates can be fun and interesting but the idea that they somehow draw people closer together is a stretch."
I think that might be more applicable where SNAD is less likely to set in or even be considered an issue. Status updates can foster interaction of user comments that often bridge familiarity among users. Theyare highly visible forum threads dynamically generated with potential to catalyze explosive user interaction across degrees of separation (in a VAST network) at least with comments enbabled.
A reason to say hi to a 'friend' or jump in a 'conversation'.
I think each user should have their own by-laws posted within their profile on how THEY utilize social networking (obviously non other than facebook in this instance). Minimize SNAD, which should NOT be overlooked as a social study.
Far as tweets. Oh, I think tweet twitter and facebook will announce some sort of an engagement arrangement this upcoming year. (my prediction for 2009 #5).
A lot of people find the phone helps them connect and maintain or build relationships with others...and a lot of people find the phone useful only for informational exchanges, like, "How late is your store open?" or "We hit traffic, and we'll be 20 minutes late."
A lot of people find email helps them connect and maintain or build relationships with others...and a lot of people find email is useful only for informational exchanges, like, "Does your tax prep service work with small businesses?" or "What should I bring to your potluck on Sunday?"
I think you see where this is going. Twitter and other micromessaging systems give people another channel for connection--and some people find it works for them on a personal or relationship level, but others don't.
While I wouldn't expect it to appeal to everyone, I have heard dozens of people say (or blog) that they tried Twitter and didn't find it compelling. But then a few of their friends or coworkers joined. So the original person tried it again, and once they had more people to follow that they cared about, and they stuck with it for a few weeks, they got hooked.
Likely, as Twitter and its cousins mature, we'll hear more from people who got excited when the people they found interesting starting posting updates. And we'll also hear more from people who just don't warm to the form.
Re: "In short, micromessaging forges the kind
of personal connectedness that's long been a promise of technology, but
has eluded widespread adoption on the Internet until recently."
I enjoyed your blog, but I just think that statement is not true at all. And if it is true, then this idea of personal connectedness over the Internet seems really overrated. Status updates can be fun and interesting but the idea that they somehow draw people closer together is a stretch. To me, personal connections are reliant on much more than short, minutely updates about what people are doing.
This isn't to say status updates are bad or evil or anything, I just don't think they deserve all this credit for forging (forcing?) relationships between people.
Do you really feel closer to people now because of their status updates? Does it depend on the relationship you have with a person in real life?
I wish that status updates made me feel closer to folk, but the truth is, they don't. Sometimes, a status update has the opposite effect, reminding me how out of the loop I've been with someone or a group.
Perhaps I haven't approached micromessaging with sufficient verve to forge the warm and fuzzy ties that could bind me closer to family, friends, and colleagues.
On the other hand, I do admit that Facebook has opened up lines of communication for me with some long-lost pals and acquaintances.
For me, it's a question of time: Often, I don't have -- or don't take -- the time out required to update. Then, as I receive others' updates, I feel guilty. So much for staying connected.
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M2M: Rise of the Machines? Not Yet David Weldon In the 1970 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, two giant supercomputers from the United States and Soviet Union secretly join forces to take control of the collective nuclear might of the two countries. In the film, the two machines discover each other's existence, communicate back-and-forth, share their collective data, and cut their human creators out of the process. It is the ultimate example of machine-to-machine communications, or M2M. CLICK FOR MORE
M2M: Rise of the Machines? Not Yet David Weldon In the 1970 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, two giant supercomputers from the United States and Soviet Union secretly join forces to take control of the collective nuclear might of the two countries. In the film, the two machines discover each other's existence, communicate back-and-forth, share their collective data, and cut their human creators out of the process. It is the ultimate example of machine-to-machine communications, or M2M. CLICK FOR MORE
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