Early Twitter norms pressured public accounts because privacy defeated self-promotion.

Evidence

Kazaroth tells rhipadmore that she should not protect her updates and includes a link to an article called “The Ten Commandments of Twitter” by James Dickey. She clearly feels that Twitter “should” be public, in line with social expectations that private accounts are “wrong” (90 percent of Twitter accounts are public). Because Twitter is considered a broadcast medium, and because it is used so frequently for self-promotion, making accounts private defeats this purpose. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 234

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s interest in public/private performance of self — parallels the immodesty moral panics article (public visibility as virtue) and self-branding’s demand for exposure. — connects to: Twitter’s early ethos was reciprocity and attribution, not broadcast. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 228; Early Twitter gatekeepers framed private accounts as a misunderstanding of the medium. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 235; Blatant self-promotion on social media signals low status — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 516 (+2 more)
• QUESTION: The 90-percent-public figure for that era raises a question about how that norm has shifted with platform design changes and algorithmic feeds.

Broader Connections

• Early Twitter gatekeepers framed private accounts as a misunderstanding of the medium. #corroborates (0.87) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 235
• Early Twitter allowed ordinary users direct access to celebrities. #expands (0.78) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 410
• Blatant self-promotion on social media signals low status #expands (0.75) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 516
• Social media originally appealed through collective joy, now threatened by commercial management #complicates (0.72) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 633