  Inspired by a European project, PHEME, that requires the close analysis of
Twitter-based conversations in order to look at the spread of rumors via social
media, this paper has two objectives. The first of these is to take the
analysis of microblogs back to first principles and lay out what microblog
analysis should look like as a foundational programme of work. The other is to
describe how this is of fundamental relevance to Human-Computer Interaction's
interest in grasping the constitution of people's interactions with technology
within the social order. Our critical finding is that, despite some surface
similarities, Twitter-based conversations are a wholly distinct social
phenomenon requiring an independent analysis that treats them as unique
phenomena in their own right, rather than as another species of conversation
that can be handled within the framework of existing Conversation Analysis.
This motivates the argument that Microblog Analysis be established as a
foundationally independent programme, examining the organizational
characteristics of microblogging from the ground up. We articulate how aspects
of this approach have already begun to shape our design activities within the
PHEME project.
