Tweets could boost conference presentations

Research also infers some presenters may find them disturbing.

Social media platforms, such as Twitter, can help improve quality of presentations as speakers receive real-time feedback, says a study, reported IANS. “The quality of presentations should hopefully improve as presenters are forced to concentrate on their key messages more and respond to the real time feedback they are now receiving,” said Damian Roland, honorary senior lecturer at University of Leicester in Britain.

However, researchers also suggested that some presenters may find the tweets disturbing. The study showed that the majority of tweets were accurate but some were not and misrepresented what the speaker had said.

“Dissonance between the intended message and its translation via a tweet likely exists due to a number of factors related to the presenter, the tweeter or the technology,” Dr Roland said, reported sciencedaily.com. “Tweeters themselves may consciously or subconsciously phrase the message to achieve greater impact for their followers, an approach which could be viewed as sensationalism in some circumstances,” he added.

Indeed, in isolation, they could be seen to harm the speaker’s reputation. “The majority (of tweets) were deemed to be reflective of the message the presenter was trying to get across. A small number were found not to represent the presenter’s views,” Roland said. “I have heard presenters say please don’t take pictures in the past – could this soon be followed by please don’t tweet?” Roland said. The study was published in the journal Emergency Medicine.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 14^th, 2015.

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