The context of these tweets has a large impact on the way he uses language. For example Twitter only allows you to use 140 characters as this used to be the standard length of text messages. This means he has to use abbreviations to fit everything he wants to say into a tweet. The use of these abbreviations despite having a large amount of characters left suggests he is using them sarcastically. He is a 27 year old man so it is unlikely that he uses text talk in a serious way. He uses this feature mainly in humorous tweets which suggests it’s used to support the comedic feel of the tweet. Owl City’s main fanbase on twitter is teenage girls so it’s possible that he’s using this language to appeal to his audience as his twitter will be viewed by thousands of people this age.
A lot of Owl City’s tweets contain sarcasm or humour which gives the impression he uses twitter to entertain his fan base. In these tweets, he generally doesn’t use punctuation at the end of sentences which adds an informal element to them. When asking questions he either doesn’t include question marks or uses multiple question marks at once. The use of multiple question marks has become more common with twitter users as it is used either sarcastically or to emphasise their question.
There are some aspects of his tweets which make it clear which social network he is using. For example, hashtags are mostly used on twitter as they used to be exclusive to that site. He uses the hashtag ‘owlcity’ when answering questions for fans as it makes it easier for him to find their tweets.
As well as this, he has included links to pictures in some tweets. Twitter has made it increasingly easy for people to share images so this feature gives a clear idea which social site he’s using. Pictures add interest to tweets and are often humorous.
In one tweet he uses the hashtag ‘#tbt’ which stands for throw back Thursday. Alongside this hashtag he has attached a picture. This tag has become popular among twitter users as it gives them a chance to share funny or interesting childhood pictures so his picture will appeal to his fans as they will be interested in seeing older pictures of him. This tag is exclusive to social networks so gives a clear idea of the effect technology has had on the things he says.
