You Are What You Tweet

For those of you who know me, you know I am in my first semester of my graduate study at MICA. As a new student, I’ve been searching for inspiration for my new work, which I hope will help me to explore my world and expand as an artist. But, as I trolled through the deepest corners of the internet, and connected with my networks via Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace…I realized something. The WAY in which I was looking for subject matter WAS the subject matter I was searching for.

Social Media IS the subject I want to work in. I find it both curious and exhilarating how people use social media. Everyone has a different style, persona, and goal they are working towards when they engage in social media contact. But the point is that social media, specifically Twitter, has become an increasingly important part of the lives of it’s users.

So, I decided to switch gears and do a little research on the Psychology of Twitter. This particular social network strikes a cord with me because of the endless ways in which people use it. Twitter allows you a maximum of 140 characters, and upon starting, asks you to answer the question: “What Are You Doing?”  This very open ended brevity creates an interesting interaction for its users. Some people tweet about things that are inconsequential, like what they ate for breakfast, or how the weather changed their mood. These seemingly random, and trivial statements paint an interesting portrait of the users. Why do we feel a need to share this information? Moreover, why do we feel the need to share this information online?

These random thoughts, statements, and questions bring me to the real need that Twitter serves for its users: recognition. I Tweet, Therefore I am. I exist. What is so exciting and different about Twitter as a social network, is that it feeds our primary social needs for interaction, belonging, and connection without the limitations of friend lists and profile pages. Humans need social interaction, and Twitter allows this interaction to happen very differently than other social networks. When you tweet, that information becomes a part of a real-time stream of human life. At any given moment, anyone can read and respond to your thoughts with a brief message of their own. This can happen instantly, creating a dialogue between people that would not exist otherwise. Twitter offers small glimpses into the lives of people who use it, and as such works like a giant, real-time social media painting. Everyone who tweets adds something new to the canvas, and we recognize his or her presence by reading, or responding. They “are” because they Tweet.

For my project, I’d like to take that recognition a step further. I plan to create small multi-media pieces based on the tweets people send out. You Are What You Tweet will be a project dedicated to validating the trivial, small, inconsequential ideas that people share via Twitter, by creating art about individual messages tweeted. There is beauty in all things, and artists have spent decades creating work based on what normal social circles deem “trivial”. So, since Twitter is now the new media why in which people broadcast their lives, (from the eventful to the trivial) it will be the focal point of my new work.

But I need your help! Please follow me on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/zerbetron. When you Tweet something you’d like to be a part of You Are What You Tweet please include #urwut somewhere in the tweet. (Think of it like “your” “what”. U R What U Tweet. Get it? ) I will be following the #urwut Twitter stream and recording the tweets as the come in. As more tweets come in, I will start selecting some to create pieces based on. If your tweet is chosen, I will contact you via twitter and include a link to the piece so you can view it and share it with others if you like.

Remember this project is about YOU. I hope to see it grow, and become a telling project of the people who use social media to paint a portrait of their lives. We are here, and we are worth being heard. Help me spread the word. I’m looking forward to reading what you have to say.

If you’ve got any questions, feel free to contact me!

Tweet On,

zerbeTRON