Thanks and tweets: comparing two public displays

Two public display systems, with different methods of posting, were deployed over several years. One, the Thank You Board, was designed to give people an outlet specifically for publicly thanking and acknowledging others in the community. The other, SI Display, showed any Twitter post directed to the display and did not have explicit usage guidelines. People preferred the flexibility of the latter, but ambiguity about its purpose and norms of usage persisted even six months after deployment and made some people hesitant to post. Also, using Twitter as the posting mechanism facilitated participation for some but also created barriers for those not using Twitter and for Twitter users who were wary of mixing their professional and non-professional contexts.