Twitter: Social Communication in the Twitter Age

Digital Media and Society Series

by Dhiraj Murthy

Twitter has become a household name, discussed both for its role in prominent national elections, natural disasters, and political movements, as well as for what some malign as narcissistic "chatter." This book takes a critical step back from popular discourse and media coverage of Twitter, to present the first balanced, scholarly engagement of this popular medium.

In this timely and comprehensive introduction, Murthy not only discusses Twitter's role in our political, economic, and social lives, but also draws a historical line between the telegraph and Twitter to reflect on changes in social communication over time. The book thoughtfully examines Twitter as an emergent global communications medium and provides a theoretical framework for students, scholars, and tweeters to reflect critically on the impact of Twitter and the contemporary media environment. The book uses case studies including citizen journalism, health, and national disasters to provide empirically rich insights and to help decipher some of the ways in which Twitter and social media more broadly may be shaping contemporary life.

Genres: Social Media, Nonfiction, Sociology

220 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2012

Reviews

[Alexander Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good review of historic events along with distributions of Twitter's influence on public discourse. Although some of the theoretical framing of the data is questionable this book does its job. If you're pretty knowledgeable about how twitter and other social media functions mechanistically, this is more of a situational basis for empirical research.

[Mr L · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for any twitter follower.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of observation, philosophizing and history in these few pages. It makes me want to read John Dent's play The Telegraph, or, A New Way Of Knowing Things, which is referenced at the beginning of Chapter 2. The play was written in 1795, which caught my attention, because the electronic telegraph was still in the future. I discovered that this form of telegraph was visual through relays from point to point, but also visible to anybody in sight of any of the stations to read what was being sent. Once I realized this "telegraph" had this peculiar characteristic, its connection to Twitter became obvious, but the author did not stress that fact.

References to philosophers could be somewhat misleading for readers unfamiliar with the age in which the likes of Kierkegaard wrote as a 1962 volume, not their original time frame in the first half of the 19th Century.

The book takes a close look at several areas in which Twitter feeds have been very influential: journalism, disasters, activism and health.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolute must-read for anyone interested in the basics of Twitter and its impacts on culture and social interaction. With application of case studies to highlight issues in areas like health and activism, Murthy's Twitter explores not only how individuals are using Twitter, but also how those individuals can utilize the site to inspire or impact social change. Murthy's work can be used as an excellent foundation to further, more detailed research in digital communications.

[Laurel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is useful because the author provides an overview of much of the academic literature, to date, on the subject. There is not much new in this book for people who are frequent and long term users of Twitter.