Twitter

Here's the point: I don't follow celebrities. I don't much care what they have to say.

Some people use Twitter as a navel-gazing tool. I don't.

The tool is what YOU make it. And if you don't know how to use the tool properly, then you won't gain an appreciation for it.

There will be fear-mongering and detractors, like I Digress, for all new technologies. I prefer to stay on top of the trends and know how to communicate with people on the platforms where they seem comfortable.

And P.S. ghost-written quotes in press releases aren't bullshit. They're meant to assist the reporter in furthering the discussion. If you want to rip a quote right out of a press release, that's your lazy-assed business.

 

I'm not lazy. I don't use quotes in press releases.

Doesn't make them any less bullshit.

Doesn't mean those who write them are bad people. It's just B.S. Let's not pretend otherwise. That's all I'm saying.

But go ahead and jump to the conclusion that I'm lazy.

 

Back to Twitter, has anyone used a Twitter quote before? I know that Politico did a story citing John McCain's tweets, but what is the general feeling on it?

 

Call me crazy, but that kind of "quote," that only a lazy person would use, furthers the discussion how? Can't it do whatever it's supposed to do along those lines without being put in quotes? I mean, really.

 

I didn't say you were. If said if you used the quotes. If you don't, what's your issue?

A little sensitive, eh?

 

Am I wrong to assume that the only quotes you think aren't "lazy" come from face-to-face or phone calls? Do you quote from e-mails?

 

No he's not. You're reply about "lazy-assed business" was out of line and did, from my interpretation, condemn him.

Why don't you take responsibility for the post, simply apologize, and then everyone moves on.

If more people just admitted when they were wrong, the world would be a better place

And YOU were wrong

 

Thanks for telling me what I meant, chief. By the way, it's 'your reply,' not 'you're reply.'

Sounds like an error Al Strachan would make.

 

Are the celebs really involved or is some flunky just posting for them for publicity reasons?

 

My ghost writer finds that ridiculous.

 

That John McCain has a ghost writer.

 

It's another method of communication -- widely used now, so I'd have no problem quoting from a Twitter account if it came in context. If it's readily known that someone's Twitter is their own, I'd be fine writing that

Charlie Villaneuva wrote Tuesday that he was "sick and tired of" his head coach on social networking site Twitter.com.

for instance. There's little difference between that and someone posting something on their official site.

Again, I think there's a bad perception that all the Twitterers in a city gather at night and giggle about how cool it is. It's a hugely diverse group of people, and journalists are a part of it. I would think of Twitter no differently than we did Facebook or blogs in the past few years -- you can scoff at it or find ways to integrate a new medium into your job. One option will certainly get more common than the other as things progress.