How not to use Twitter

Wow. Talk about a meltdown.

Definitely how to not use Twitter.

 

I'm with Comma 100 percent on that, and it's the reason I still read the paper religiously. Every day I read at least one story that probably wouldn't have caught my eye if I were on a Web site. Not to say the Web can't duplicate it, but I haven't seen many that have been able to. The "Most-Viewed" and "Most E-Mailed" links are a start, but are not quite the same. By and large, I think Web sites are pretty poorly organized.

 

You talking about newspaper Web sites or Web sites in general, DD?

Newspaper Web sites, by and large, suck. And I think the reason is mostly because even when newspapers hire good people to deal with the online content, they fail to hire good Web developers, too.

 

Yeah, mostly newspaper sites, I guess. Maybe they'll get there someday, but in my experience the Web site allegedly takes priority but they don't put the manpower into it to make it user-friendly. And like you said, the development/design, which should be at the top of the list, is not.
There are so many things I read (entertainment, politics and such) that I simply would not know I cared about if I didn't see it in the newspaper. Maybe it's just a matter of conditioning, and I am set in the ways of newspapers as far as presentation/news judgment. And there is really no standard on the Web like there is in newspapers. But at the same time, most people (non-journalists) probably don't think like I do.

 

Well, I would guess a lot more people than you think have already conditioned themselves on how to navigate a news Web site just as effectively as they ever did with the paper product.

I know I have. If stories and pages are cross-linked well, I think I end up learning and reading a LOT more from a Web site than I do with a newspaper. Of course, add to that the fact that most newspapers have so little to offer these days ...

 

Good point(s). I don't have a problem navigating most sites, I'm just saying that there are things in the paper that I read that I wouldn't seek out or wouldn't be prominently displayed/easy to find on the Web. No question it's a matter of conditioning, but it also has a lot to do with the many poorly organized sites.

 

So anyhow, the individual in question now has his updates protected. Can't say that I blame him, but he's the one who made himself the news.

 

Guess he didn't realize twitter is best used for children's funerals.

 

Too late to get that toothpaste back in the tube.

 

Through watching the tutorial video on the Twitter site, I just now figured out what the hell it was. I thought it was funny that each entry can be no longer than 140 characters, because, I swear, we've got a couple writers at my shop who can't write their byline in 140 characters.

Also, I can't figure out how this is useful for newspapers. Can someone explain that?

 

Gets your headlines out there. Gets people linking to your stories and your site. Can be very helpful in an emergency or breaking-news situation, as far as continously updating with information even if you don't have enough for a full-fledged story yet. Or even when you do.

There are a lot of ways it can be useful, really, if you know what you're doing and you have the manpower to do it.

Tweeting a child's funeral ... not so useful.

 

I use it to send out quick news — "Got off the phone with Bumfuck coach Peter Small. He said Johnny Dingle will start on Saturday because of focus on zone defense."
Also do live updates and send out links to my stories/videos/audio files.