Social Media Project – Teratags

Teratags are the final iteration of the social media project where I continued with the idea of hashtags physically located in a specific place.

Here is a definition:

A Twitter hashtag located in a physical space so as to connect an object, place or happening to the digital world allowing for a streamlined organized conversation to take place.

The concept is to bridge the gap between interactions in a digital space and places or objects located in a physical space. A precedent to this project was created in 2004 called Yellow Arrow where yellow arrow stickers were placed in physical spaces. Using SMS, users could send a message or thought with a unique code located on the arrow.  When another person encounters the arrow, they can listen to the message and using the unique code on the arrow, have the opportunity to respond by sending a message back.

The project proved to be successful as it gained a large user base (for 2004) and a lot of press. I think Teratags continues to push this concept but by incorporating Twitter we can open up a more dynamic and widely adopted platform with a higher amount of potential users.

When designing how the hashtag will physically live in a designated space and getting people to recognize that what they are seeing is a physical hashtag was a design challenge. I will have to build the signage so that the hashtag and its connection to the physical world is clear; I will need to define what the signage means. Using a QR code will bring the user to a site where can they look up information and definition of Teratag. This will minimize words on the sticker and keep the design simple.Below is a mock-up of the first design iteration of the sticker that will live in the physical space:

They sticker will only display the hashtag name, a QR code and the logo. Once the QR code is scanned they will be brought to a site that provides more information on Teratags and how to use them. Here is an example of what the website would look like:

In order to push this project further, there needs to be integration from location-based social media. For example I want to incorporate Foursquare with Teratags and have the Twitter hashtag become part of the venue name. This way when a user checks into a place, the hashtag is immediately known. This allows Teratags to live in the digital world if a sticker could not be easily implemented. Below are a series of examples using Foursquare:

Once a check-in is shared to Twitter, the location’s hashtag as well as #teratag are now part of the online conversation which allows for organized conversation about a particular location. Foursquare comments are not streamlined, and it is difficult to hold a conversation about a comment on the app. Once a user checks into a new place, their old comment is no longer directly accessible. Example of Foursquare check-in shared to Twitter:

In addition to Foursquare, I thought it would also be meaningful to incorporate Instagram. Teratags work well with Instagram because the app already has a feature that saves hashtags for posts. Once you take a photo, comment and share with Twitter, your hashtags become a jumping off point for photos associated with places and events. Below are some examples of how this will look:

 

 

Once a tweet, check-in or photo is posted to Twitter, it becomes very easy to manage and continue your comments and conversations. Here are some examples of what sorting your hashtags would look like:

In the next phases of this project I would build the website, print the stickers and incorporate user testing throughout the entire process as I would have to filter down which locations would be the most likely to attract users. I would also like the website to propose the idea for Foursquare and Instagram users to attach hashtags to venues, comments and posts. If Teratags begin to gain presence on other  location-based social networks, this could really help in the overall adoption rate.