This document discusses the interconnectedness enabled by Twitter and how it allows for a sense of presence and connection in real-time across the world. It explores how artists are using Twitter as a creative medium and how during the Iran elections, Twitter became a vital communication tool for protesters. While text-based communication on Twitter provides a lower form of media richness, the feeling of interconnectedness between users across the world in the present moment is still very strong.

1. “What are you doing...?” Defining Presence & Interconnectedness within Twitter

2. Social Networking Shallow? Meaningless? Ineffective?

3. A different way to communicate... Or is it... briefly to the World instantly anonymously

4. Limited Text 140 char limit + direct communication = impact

5. Thursday 29th October 2009, 18:32 I need to stop reading twitter, I really don’t want to know anything about games before I play them less than a minute ago Doing some industry reading during the day. Not normal lately. I like it. Free your thoughts Hey I'm up for playing in the rain, how are you? 1 minute ago from TweetDeck HAPPY 40 TH BIRTHDAY, INTERNET! The first message was sent 40 years ago from UCLA to Stanford. Read up: www.ucla.edu#ucla40 Its 4:30am - I’m off this - *goodnight* to whoever is up tweetinless than a minute ago Reading up on WebMD because I can’t go to the doctor. Turns out I may have had pneumonia. Huh. Getting ready, dance, "this is it" ! :-)) thank you for the 80s Blips! I must go early to bed or I will not have seen my man for days apart from in passing. goodnight Today I watched This Is It at cinema. I liked it very much. We miss u MICHAEL.♥

6. “It's a moment that I'm after, a fleeting moment, but not a frozen moment.” Andrew Wyeth

7. We live in isolation in our daily lives, working from our small offices, encased in our individual micro-worlds, unaware of the billions of ‘worlds’ out there. Our sense of the world is subjective, based on our own experiences.

8. For the first time in history, we have a window into the world. Second by second

9. At times profound, often mundane, occasionally insightfulit’s what is happening in the world...Right now.

10. We can now see more of the world around us as a whole... In real time...

11. My World... (tonight) 01/11/09 Dinner time... Phone’s ringing... Mummy’s busy – in a minute! So tired Need a break Headache looming Marking to do Sneaky scrabble game! Ebaying for Dad Read essay Bedtime Lili 18:15 You might not be too interested in MY life... 18:16 18:17 18:19 18:18 18:20 What to eat Send Email Story mummy! What do YOU want to eat? Procrastinating Takeout? Should we move? Diagrams for Si

12. But you might be interested in theirs... www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2009/jun/13/iran

13. During the Iran Elections, Twitter became a vital communication tool, allowing thousands of Iranians the freedom to speak out, to record, to protest the violence that was unfolding in their country. The voices of people; insistent that the world was aware of their struggle... Their (only?) chance to get information out Uncensored.

14. We are connected mentally emotionally digitally

15. Interconnected Whilst text-only communication comes out on the lower end of the scale of media ‘richness’... It cannot be denied that the feeling of interconnectedness is still very strong.

16. Social Presence Theory “The moment to moment awareness of co-presence of a mediated body and the sense of accessibility of the other being’s psychological, emotional and intentional states” Biocca, F & Harms, C (2002). ‘Defining and Measuring Social Presence’: Contribution to the Networked Minds Theory and Measure, ‘Proceedings of PRESENCE’ (2002): p14

17. But what is this connection, that is missing the proximity of human physical closeness?

18. Your Presence is Felt... The present is ever-changing, never static. You are present, your presence is felt. It is the appeal of living in the moment. It is liveness

19. Communication is fluid It is inand of the moment

20. “Users do not expect a response when they send a message via Twitter... This means you can step in and out of the flow of information as it suits you and it never queues up with increasing demand of your attention.”

21. Tweeting ART? Artists are relishing the free-flowing, fluid feel of the medium, and use it as a tool for artistic creative expression, as well as a medium to showcase their work, network and promote events.

22. Artists on Twitter: “Social media allows us to connect and collaborate on a level we otherwise would’ve never known outside of the web. It allows collectors and fans to connect more intimately with the artist and allows for a stronger relationship with the art itself.” http://mashable.com/2009/02/23/twitter-artists/ accessed 01/11/09

23. We are connected connecting live a reality relative presence present

24. “Every day, we swim in a sea of stories and tales that we hear or read or listen to or see... from our earliest days to our deaths. Berger, AA (1996), ‘Narratives in Popular Culture, Media and Everyday Life’, Sage Productions, P1