Microblogging is taking the IT world by storm, with Twitter its (in)famous poster boy blazing the way. With the ability to post short messages and broadcast them, microblogging has possibly sparked another mode of computer-mediated communication. Twitter, the company which started it all, is seeing massive growth in the number of subscribers. Both individuals and organizations are taking to microblogging as part of an arsenal of Web 2.0 tools. This technology update will introduce microblogging and provide an overview of such services. It will compare microblogging with similar technologies and present applications for the enterprise and education. As with any new technology, issues have emerged, and these will be discussed. Possible research areas are explored too before concluding with predictions for its future. (These are edited slides from a seminar I conducted in the IS dept in NUS)

1. An Overview of Microblogging Technology Update 3 April 09 Elizabeth Koh

3. Microblogging??? μ -blogging? Micro-messaging? Social Messaging? Micro-sharing?

4. Microblogging???

5. Microblogging???

8. General Uses Means of communication

9. General Uses Means of communication

13. Technology Comparison (1) Synchronity Text Length Asynchronous 140 characters μ-blogging Asynchronous Unlimited Blogging Asynchronous Unlimited Email Synchronous 300-500 characters IM Asynchronous 160 characters SMS Synchronous 256 characters IRC

14. Technology Comparison (2) None None None None Email Email, IM, SMS and other mobile applications Other methods to update the service Chat client IRC Mobile applications SMS Stand-alone clients, browser, mobile applications IM Email clients, Email Browser (webpages, RSS) Blogging Browser (webpages, RSS), Stand-alone clients, mobile applications μ-blogging Methods to access (read) the service

15. Technology Comparison (3) No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Friend/ Contact list N.A. Private Private Private N.A. Public to Private Visibility of Contact list Group, person (1 – 1) IRC Group, person (1 – 1) SMS Group, person (1 – 1) IM Community, group, person (1 – many) Email World, community, group, person (1 – many) Blogging World, community, group, person (1 – many) μ-blogging Audience/Reach

16. Overview of the Microsphere Mar 2006 Oct 2007 Jan 2008 Sep 2008 Jul 2008 Dec 2007 Oct 2008 Timeline

17. Categorizing the Microsphere Narrow focus Broad Focus Simple features Integrated/Additional features

20. Branding and Marketing

21. Social CRM

22. Direct Traffic and Sales

24. Company-wide communication

29. Collaboration

30. Grassroots Virtual Learning Environment

31. Online Course Holotescu & Grosseck (2008)