Social
Media
as a dominant force for communicating has penetrated every element
of society. Can a virtual community possess a
culture?
Every company
and organization possesses a definable culture. Behaviors,
decision-making models, intrinsic and extrinsic actions and how people are
treated may all play a part in defining it. These elements
of culture are measureable and easy to define within a controlled
entity.
Social media
lives and breathes in a virtual reality. It permeates all
corners of
the world, allows people to communicate across all traditional
boundaries
and thrives 24 hours/day. So…does it have a
definable
culture?
If you have
spent any time on Twitter, you quickly realize thousands of people have a need
to respond to the question, “What’s happening?” Twitter has
developed it’s own language with tweets, retweets, tweeple, twitpics, twibes,
etc. You can follow topics with a hashtag and people with
lists. What is most apparent is the need people have to
share.
The culture
appears to be grounded in not only a need to
share, but also a desire to be
recognized. Retweets – when
someone sends your tweet
(message) out to their followers (a term
supporting the need for recognition)
somehow
elevates your status within this community.
There are
etiquette protocols as many people publicly thank you for following them and for
retweeting. Retweeting becomes a type
