Twitter

Tweeter, twitter.. I'll never do it.. but I thought Twitter was a phone service. Do you also Twitter on the laptop? I'll buy that as a note reservoir.

 

A few other thoughts:

http://mashable.com/2009/03/11/newspaper-industry/

 

http://www.freep.com/article/20090316/BLOG24/90315035




From the Freep....
"Putting the Twit in Twitter

March 16, 2009
I guess I’m just too ordinary. There’s nothing spectacular about the way I brush my teeth in the morning. There’s nothing inspiring about the way I recycle aluminum cans at the local grocery store. And there’s nothing interesting about the manner in which I rake my yard.

Apparently I’m in the minority if the social networking tool Twitter is any indication. The service allows anyone to keep the world instantly updated on all his or her doings through posts (called Tweets) about everything from the important to the not-so- important (heavy emphasis on the latter).

The litmus test of any new technology is whether or not it improves your life. I have a hard time imagining how knowing that someone just washed his or her cat improves anyone’s life. There was a time when obsessing over the details of other people’s lives was called being nosey. Now it’s called Twittering. It’s not that I don’t use Twitter, I Tweet on my paper’s freepopinion account when I’ve posted a new cartoon, as a public service. But I refrain from Tweeting the details of my personal life, also as a public service. There is a legitimate use for Twitter, don’t get me wrong. But a whole lot of what I see on the service is beyond inane.

If someone approached you on the street and began telling you all about their visit to the podiatrist, you’d look for an excuse to escape the conversation. So why us it that when they send the same information to you in a Tweet, you’re suddenly fascinated?

Maybe the answer to that question is, as one blog post I read put it: “Twitter = Texting for exhibitionists.”

 

Sigh ... every social networking platform, whether it's Facebook, Twitter, bebo, FriendFeed or whatever, is what you make it.

If you want to use it to tell people what you had for breakfast, fine. Tell people what you had for breakfast.

It's an incredible learning tool for me and I can't even begin to count the number of connections I've made. So, the way I see it, those who want to look down their noses at people are Twitter are the same people who think their readers are 'morons,' the same people who don't understand why readership is slipping, and the same people who want to trudge along in the old way without making full use of the tools that lie before them.

Good luck.

 

um, my question was serious. Can you Twitter from a laptop?

 

Again, you're falling victim to a stereotype before you try the medium. Sports journalists shouldn't use Twitter the way people update Facebook status ("Disappointed the View is a rerun today") -- they can use it to build traffic and give readers updates about things they care about.

The NFL team you cover signs a free agent, and after you've posted the news online, you text a short message to 40404. That message gets delivered to fans -- subscribers and nonsubscribers who just come to you for news -- and they might be in the grocery store, but they get a text with the news from you. And it costs you nothing but a small amount of time. I don't understand all the resentment.

 

You can Twitter from any computer with Internet access. You can Twitter from your cellphone -- again, you'd have to be able to text-message, and you might be scoffing at that as well.

 

uh, thanks, I think. It's true that people are looking down noses and scoffing here, but I'm afraid it's you guys at me because I'm not twittering. I'm not a position where it would lend itself to any relevance, therefore, I'm dont' and won't twitter. I didn't know how it was done, so I asked a question. None of that means I'm a Luddite.

 

Here are a couple things kinda cool about twitter:

1. You can go to tweet my job and pick a city and types of jobs and have it alert you whenever one pops up. It has jobs I haven't seen while looking at 4-5 other job sites.

2. Ron Howard (Opie!) is a new twitterer and I followed him and he's following me. That's pretty cool.

3. If you follow AP, NY Times, NPR, Defamer, etc., you can keep up with whatever is going on. And likely will hear about it first.

4. If you really like hockey or Calgary or are into Bow Valley College, you can get all your news and more.

 

Um ... my post was in response to slappy's post. I just didn't feel like quoting it. So if you feel you're being scoffed at or looked down upon, that's on you.

 

Yes. What's important to remember is that readers want to be engaged now, not just talked to. They want to know they can have a conversation with a reporter or whomever.

An @reply to you is an opportunity to do that, just like taking a telephone call.

 

The part about individual interaction is where it really stands to grow. And it needs to be heavily emphasized that Joe Bloe from Your Rag is Twittering so there's that personal connection to the info.