Our online communication was ever changed the day Facebook came online. Our social calendars, our emotions and our photos were available. Then along came Twitter. Facebook’s arguably most popular feature, the status update, got a brand new home of its own. Who knew that a seemingly trivial social function would generate new marketing plans, add to the ever growing internet slang, and teach us how to say what we mean- exactly.
As we all joined up in droves, eager to start tweeting about everything from our locations to our lost loves, we realized the catch- we only got 140 characters (spaces included!) to express ourselves with.
Some denied, some gave up, but some stayed. Some learned that this limitation was really what we all needed- a concentrated conversation with no fillers. Companies began a global conversation with their followers, users custom chose their voices, and we all had to figure out how to say everything in short form.
Part of the short form included L33t speak or internet slang. It has taken over some traditional spelling because of the character restriction, changing “I defeated the enemy with my top score, may I be rewarded with a cheese burger? Haha!” to “I hax0red ur base, I can haz cheeseburger? LOL” but understanding is moving closer to universal. Twitter is a global phenomenon but the most important things, like laughter, cut through language barriers and borders.
Stemming from mutual understanding is a conversation. Never before could companies find out exactly how consumers reacted to their products and never before could consumers have an audience directly with companies. Now I know that there is a marketing guru behind every companies’ @ sign but hey, one less curtain to look behind right?
I believe that Twitter has made us more precise, has forced us to use more direct language, put us on the 140 character spot and we are all better for it. We say what we mean, ask for what we want and have found the most important attribute of communication- brevity.
