Comments on: Thoughts on breaking news and Twitter

By: Jaremy

Jaremy — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 06:41:20 +0000

I agree with Chris. I think the best solution is to create a link to your own blog or website and just live-blog from there. This way the people who are interested can follow through you, and those uninterested won’t. If something REALLY important happens, tweet it. Otherwise, keep it on the blog.

I’m all for live tweeting, but you also have to gauge your audience. Think of it like email – you can have a large subscribed email base, some who’d like to see an email a day about a product, but some only one a week.

By: Secular Sunday Geek-It-Up Links - March 15, 2009 — Hoyden About Town

Secular Sunday Geek-It-Up Links - March 15, 2009 — Hoyden About Town — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 23:42:38 +0000

[...] Thoughts on breaking news and Twitter [...]

By: Markus

Markus — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 05:49:05 +0000

Why harsh their buzz? Maybe because it is hyped in unreasonable proportions? Because it is occasionally touted as some sort of “future of journalism” or “future of news”, which it clearly is not? Because it’s becoming nearly impossible to consume more classic media without encountering some clueless anchor or producer who feigns coolness by tinkering with it in some obviously unknowledgeable way? Because people -especially people reporting about it- tend to fail to understand its implications and downsides? Because it’s just yet another superficial internet gimmick? Because it draws attention and human resources away from things that really matter? Because it consumes time even when avoiding it? Because all of the above can become pretty damn annoying after a while?

I could go on.

By: Quiet_Desperation

Quiet_Desperation — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 23:52:23 +0000

The point is, Twitter is a hype. It is assumed to be awesome and so cool and superior and the latest hot thing because it’s new and because everyone talks about it.

Why can’t people just enjoy something? Twitter isn’t my cup of tea, but other people enjoying it doesn’t bother me in the least. Some folks like being up to the minute. Who cares? Why harsh their buzz?

By: Gary Ansorge

Gary Ansorge — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 21:59:30 +0000

AH! The golden years. They’re hear at last,,,
and the golden years can kiss my,,,

“Well, you know old people and technology,,,”

I remember the olden days, when computers were the size of Mac trucks and you could spot the non-functional components by looking for vacuum tubes that were burned out.(All while walking thru the computer).

One of these years I may actually obtain a cell phone(probably an iPhone, since my Son works for Apple). Then I can tweet too,,,

In the meantime, I’m stuck with this old iMac,with 2GB of ram(more memory than existed on planet earth in 1960), a small hard drive(500GB) and this terribly slow 6Mb DSL line,,,Ah, when will technology catch up to my dreams???

Tweet you latter,,,

GAry 7

By: SteveG

SteveG — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 21:57:15 +0000

BA tweet away!
I joined Twitter just to get your tweets. I think you’re using it exactly how it is used best: send a lot of tweets when you have something to say, be quiet when you don’t.
Works for me.

By: Markus

Markus — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 21:26:49 +0000

I don’t heart Twitter. It’s a medium, like many media, it has to be used properly, it is useless when not used properly or when you aren’t connected in a “correct” way. And the name is frankly idiotic, as much as the word “tweets” – they’re messages, nothing else. We don’t call photos posted to Flickr “flicks” all of a sudden either, they’re “photos” obviously. Suffice it to say, we should really be talking about “microblogging” anyway, since that’s what it is. Twitter has some competitors in the field, some of which are superior in function and uptime (Plurk seems to be popular in my circles).

What do I really gain by knowing quickly, e.g., of that ISS evacuation and then near-miss? Is that important information that I totally had to know within seconds of it breaking into the word-of-mouth-(dis)information flow? Or was it just fine if I read or heard about it minutes or hours later, elsewhere in more classic media? Is this sort of being connected a substantial plus in my life, or is it wasting my time because it keeps me busy with too much irrelevant crap that people tweet about? Is Phil Plait so well connected to a Shuttle launch that I gain anything by following his tweeting (argh!) of it, things that I wouldn’t know just as well if I followed the launch live on TV or elsewhere? Or in other words, where does he get his info from, am I “better” connected through him then? Or not?

All good questions, right? The point is, Twitter is a hype. It is assumed to be awesome and so cool and superior and the latest hot thing because it’s new and because everyone talks about it. But It is not good per se. It is useless without connections to good sources in your world. As such, it is not different from any other means of being connected, or of social (or antisocial…) networking. It’s just a tool (one that is often broken too), it’s not the reinvention of the wheel.