This article was a very interesting introduction to the analytical research that can be performed using twitter analysis. It’s incredible that even tweets about Bruce Springsteen can be used to form an intriguing analysis of the social communities on twitter. One thing I enjoyed about the article was the author’s analysis of the different uses of hashtags. At one point, he mentioned the hashtags as they were used to organize subcommunities, but he also pointed out examples where they were used differently, such as to express the user’s emotions. It was also interesting to read more about axial coding and how it can be used to further examine the purpose and effect of different tweets.

Part of William Wolff's research analyzed how hashtags, at signs, and re tweets can help navigate through disruptive writing on twitter and successfully navigate towards more useful information. This was really interesting to read about because it is something that I do on a daily basis. He put analytic thought into how to navigate through it and discusses the history of how there was a need that was met. For example, Photographs were added as an option to tweets in order to have "contextualization, content filtering and exploratory serendipity within Twitter." The background of how he was able to create a program that was able to collect fan feedback to create visualizations for companies and the general public to study was also very insightful. Reading this article opened my eyes to how different technology can be used to utilize information on social media.

I think its interesting how he used qualitative data to show how people choose to write on their own when they tweet but wouldn't want to when they are forced too. The way he used technology and social media to collect data was interesting because it relates to the generation that will be reading it. The way they also used hashtags and mentions to help narrow down the results was really interesting because I would have never thought to use social media to collect data. 

This article is very interesting because it proves that people are more willing to write if it is related to social media but when they are faced with a given task such as writing a paper or a paragraph they will find excuses to procrastinate or skip it completely. Using hashtags and @ signs to help find more tweets that relate better to your topic and this interested me because I did not think that social media could be used for scientific research. I was intrigued by the way that they used tweets that had detail rather than just selecting hundreds of tweet to look at (qualitative data).

I found the article very interesting given our current assignment. I think, from the perspective of our class, it functions as a helpful example of how we should categorize our selected tweets and analyze them based on the content included. After reading through the article, I think the most engaging parts were the introduction and tracks where Wolff explained the categories he chose to focus on. The quote from Kathleen Blake Yancey was helpful in understanding the reasons for studying the tweets related to Springsteen's April concert in NJ; it stated that no one is forcing anyone to tweet, yet many people are tweeting everyday. I would not have previously thought to analyze tweets in this way in order to study "Why" people choose to. 

This article written by William I. Wolff showed how hashtags and twitter can be used during a popular event. I thought this article had an interesting perspective about tweeting. Being born and raised in NJ, I had a pretty decent idea of what Springsteen's fans are like. The author claims about his unique approach where he could find more personal information by analyzing the tweets that go on about him. I think the authors approach could be very helpful for people who are trying to find more information and going in depth more with people on twitter. 

While acknowledging the merits of the article's research and content, I can't help but think of my own Twitter account and the ways in which I've personally contributed to its broader cultural platform since its inception. The article mentions early on how the Twitter community has shifted in both substance and tone as the social media platform integrates more sophisticated features and means by which people connect and interact. It can be safely assumed that back in 2008, I would use the space to vent my emotions- "it's been #oneofthosedays"- or to wishfully catch Joe Jonas's attention- "#mrsjoejonas." The article mentions the gradual transition of Twitter from a place for updates and feelings to a worldwide community of conversation on pertinent- dare I say "trending"- global events. Wolff reveals to us the enormity of rhetoric on Twitter through a simple, yet revolutionary #typology that both binds the world together and differentiates every individual from one another. What a world we live in!

This article provided information that I previously had thought would be true when it came to the usage of tweets surrounding argumentative topics. The author’s finding was that in the case of the Springsteen tweet the majority of people in a certain group only tweeted once and most times not at any one individual whereas in other groups they were conversive and discussion based. Upon finding this, the author concluded that the individual “adopted the community’s reading and composing practices”. This seemed like a very expected conclusion as it would make sense that each individual member of a group would not tweet intentionally provocative things but instead respond to one or a couple tweets. Furthermore, most people, especially those at a concert, would not look to create an argument but instead only engage if one was presented to them.  

William Wolff walks readers through his research process of “Baby, We Were Born to Tweet.” He takes on the topic of analyzing a medium that is whatever we, the users, make of it, as he notes rather than your classic academic writing. Twitter is a platform for users to voice their opinions, which beings into question whether it is writing, or really speech. In a world so technologically connected, Twitter is a good place to find conversation and banter on important global (even local) issue. The hashtag has stemmed from this want for people to connect, and that’s what Wolff experienced just from a Bruce Springsteen concert.

This article was a great example as to what our research paper should include. He decided to  analyzed tweets about people's experiences before, during, and after a Bruce Springsteen concert and created different categories in which the tweets fall under. I find it interesting the evolution of twitter from people tweeting mostly about their daily activities, to engaging in many different forms of conversations and creating a different online language that includes hashtags, retweeting, and @s. Twitter is a great place to find people's opinions on many matters and even a place where people might write things they usually wouldn't express their opinion in real life. Hashtags are a great way to emphasize what the user is feeling whether it's an emotion or just what they are tweeting about. 

William Wolf talks about why people are writing to twitter without having an obligation to do so. He researches on the evolution of people writing on twitter. He also studies fan readings and writings. He is looking for tweets that are purposeful and important. He uses his grounded theory approach so that twitter and people tweets are credible with reliable information.  

The article introduced me to the ground theory which I understood serves the purpose of looking at data before making assumptions. The ground theory also focuses on a specific group or topic instead of being vague. For instance, Wolff focuses on Bruce Springsteen's fans. I think that it’s difficult to start using the method without any preconceived notions. Not only can you assume based on your prior knowledge, but also the people you surround yourself with, or even strangers on the internet. If the ground theory was to be successful and results were based on actual data, I think one of the only ways for it to work would be to pick a random topic that you don’t know much about and aren’t able to make assumptions about. It’s hard to not have preconceived notions, but the results from the data can sometimes surprise you and alter the way you think. This article has changed the way I view twitter and has made me realize that assumptions are made constantly and can alter the way we think, instead of relying on data. The ground theory sounds interesting, but it sounds difficult to have no expectations or assumptions about what the results will be. 

The article discusses the reasons why different people are tweeting everyday even though they are not required to do so unlike a traditional classroom where you have to write papers everyday. The article breaks down a particular topic of a concert into the before, during, and after. This is useful in our papers as we need to make categories that will fit with our data, showing what people are actually discussing. The reason of the assignment is to figure out "why" people even tweet in the first place and how that fits in with the hashtags we have chosen.

After reading this article, I was able to see how the grounded theory is difficult to apply to Twitter.  The grounded theory involves small, qualitative data, and you form theories after gathering this data.  Wolff wants to be different and use raw data before building conceptions.  The idea is to form theories without a pre-conceived thought, but he is saying that is impossible to do.  It is difficult to look at something without a hypothesis already formed because something has intrigued you to look into it.  You more than likely already have opinions on the subject, and the data usually just confirms what you were already thinking.  The idea is to get rid of assumptions and go in blind, but it allows you to be aware of the opposite point of view.  It will introduce you to the types of people that are involved with the issue.  The only way for this to work is to have level of conscience unfamiliarity.  This will change the way I view Twitter because it will allow myself to become aware of my preconceptions.

This article was very interesting to me due to the way the author looked and kind of organized social media and why people tweet. I’ve never looked at it in a way that the hashtags and at symbols really organized twitter. Being able to narrow down tweets to find what you are looking for makes twitter much more useful. It’s not just for writing your thoughts down for the world to see, it can be used as a news platform to keep up with the world and see what's going on with politics, sports, and much more. Anyone from any country can contact one another through twitter and being able to organize and sift through tweets to possibly find a friend or find a social event going on in your area is very cool. Twitter is obviously much more in depth than what we see it from the outside and the reasons people tweet.

After reading this article, Wolff gave me a different perception as to how people share their thoughts on Twitter. It delves into the notion that people are sharing on social media while not being required to do so. Twitter has evolved into a more conversational space where people are able to contribute to conversations using hashtags to group them together and it also allows people to address someone specifically by using their "@". This contributes to our hashtags that we are researching, because we are able look at a wide variety of information that people felt it was necessary to put out into the world. Although some tweets may not have such valuable information, the grounded theory approach allows for a way to sift through the rubble and find the informative and valuable tweets. This will be necessary when conducting my own research as it is a way for me to easily find the tweets I am looking for.

This article discusses the process in which the author compiled multiple tweets from the duration of a Bruce Springsteen concert to see why people were writing outside of a classroom setting. The thought that millions of people were writing because they wanted to and not because they were required to surprised the author and influenced him enough to write this article. I thought that this was interesting because it is very similar to our current twitter assignment and it gives me some insight as to what I need to do. This article also showed me a lot about the specifics of twitter and will help me later on when navigating the site.

Within “Baby, We Were Born to Tweet” one of the very first things that you gather from this article is that the author is using a Ground Theory. The Ground theory is qualitative research, basically stating theories from the categorical data of a small group(s). The main idea within the article was to see if Wolff (the author) could collect data from people, or in this case Springsteen’s fans, without gathering “pre-conceived notations about fans, fan writing, and writing on Twitter.” I do believe that his general idea of looking at data without having an idea about the topic would be innovating, but I also do believe that it is very hard to happen with all the technology that we have now in this generation. Its seen to be that most people gather all their information from the internet and/or social media, so for Wolff to preform this research in hopes that he is completely unfamiliar with his subject is very unlikely. I believe that for this whole process of the project to work for Wolff he would need an absolute unfamiliarity with the subject/topic. He would also need to make sure that there are no demographics that he is aware of for the topic, because it can interfere with the research. This article did help very much on how topics and ideas are very generalized and tend to gravitate to certain groups and people. It helped me realize that most things on social media are very generalized to certain groups, it is very unusual when you find a tweet or a post that is directed to all people.

I think that this article is very interesting because when you think of how Twitter has changed from the past, all the way up to this point in time it can be shocking. Twitter has evolved from being a simple site to text on, and update those who follow others, all the way to becoming a place where people can speak about their political points of views and the way they feel about certain controversial topics. It has become one of the top sources of social media used to get big world issues out to the public, and speak about them by all different types of people.

Another important idea about this article is the Grounded Theory Methodology. This theory was used to analyze tweets and critically look at them on a visual spread sheet regarding what they mean. By using this theory, much qualitative data was found and used for research purposes. Data was able to be collected, and used to see what types of tweets were being posted, as well as what topics the people want to make public for all to know about. The GTM has become a way to truly grasp what is being said and trending by the people who use Twitter.