In today's day and age everyone has to know how to use social media and especially when you are in the public eye. A lot of politicians have learned that Twitter is an effective way to get their message across to their audience in a more organic way than through traditional media.In the article Twitter Bites and Romney by Janet Johnson I believe what she concludes with is important. She states "Rhetoricians need to spend more time in social media venues to learn more about how rhetors—including newsmakers and candidates—correspond with the public, particularly in the political realm." I feel that more research needs to be done on social media in the political sphere for sure. So many politicians and people who hold public offices for the government are beginning to utilize these social media features and it is something that should be studied more closely.
In the article Interactivity: The golden fleece of the internet the author really hits home about the importance of finding that balance between interacting with your audience and pushing information at them. I believe that the user to web site author interactivity was the most interesting of the different types within the article. It is something that many organizations use online but rarely is it something that I think about when visiting a website. Everything down to the color of the background is created in order to get you to communicate with the authors of the website (that being the business or political persons team).
I also found the Google Maps piece interesting. I think it shows great expansion in the area of involvement with the public. "According to Ben Rigby, researcher for Rock the Vote, with these new programs “Google offers Earth as a canvas. Organizations like the Holocaust Museum paint this canvas with what are called layers, which mapmakers use to thematically organize information, such as images, icons, graphs, charts, and text.”
I also loved when the author talked about how maps don't just simply show us where we are or how to get somewhere. "These maps, instead, help us to locate ourselves on a more philosophical level, and work to build our identity in relationship to our location in the world (Pg.109)."
All of these articles this week made me see things for more than just what they appear to be on the surface. Websites are more than just places that house information, Twitter is more than just where people talk about social trends and maps are more than just something to point me in the right direction.
