Tweet This
By Mitch Berg
I work in the software business. I end up having to stay current on a lot of trends in software.
So, it seems, to people in the news business, according to the folks at MPR’s “In The Loop”, who are apparently all atwitter about…er, Twitter:
Now, given my very limited experience with Twitter, I’d count myself in that latter category. But from what I do know, the program is no savior. What really impresses me though, has nothing to do with “tweeting” at all . . . it’s that in a newsroom, where for a long time people have played it safe, measured all the risks before making a move . . . these folks were now congratulating us for trying a chaotic experiment with uncertain results. That’s a big deal.
In the media business right now, no one really knows what web application or social networking trend will be the one to bring us into the digital future. But one thing’s for sure, without the right attitude about taking chances, you’ll quickly be left behind.
I gotta confess; I have not the faintest idea what Twitter is for. Oh, I know it lets you post one-liner entries pretty much constantly through the day – as if any of us needed more on-line time-suckage. Robin Marty at Minnesoros Monitor “Independent” used it, rather innovatively I thought, to report from the DFL convention (most DFL ideas fit into one line, so it was a natural).
I’ve heard “Twitter” called “Microblogging” – which strikes this macroblogger as really, really pointless.
Worse – I tried to check out the website. Perhaps I was having a bad day, but I hadn’t the faintest clue what I was supposed to do, or what the purpose of the whole exercise was, or how it was that I was supposed to get the little microblogged pellets of wisdom out into the ether.
So perhaps this is one trend that will, as the Loopers say, “leave me behind”, more or less like VRML, Webvan.com, Pets.com, PowerAgent, Flooz.com, Go.com and Gather.com, for better or worse, did.
June 12th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
I signed up to get Twitter messages from the Phoenix Mars Lander (they’re written on Earth, but from the spaceships point of view). I like the updates 2 or 3 times a day.
They’ve finally got a soil sample into the TEGA!!!!
June 12th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
You’re not missing much, Mitch. I like reading various Twitter messages pretty much for entertainment value. It’s not a BAD thing, per se. but color me suspicious about some sort of new way of doing journalism. The old way works good, too. Just go talk to people and tell people what they say.
June 12th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Twitter’s appeal from the outset is esoteric. Once you’ve invested a little time by following the right people and grown a roster of your own followers, however, it’s a compellingly dynamic organism that connects you to other people and current events. It’s like the Borg. Only voluntary. And fun.
The character limit for Twitter is a virtue. The best tweets are pithy spitballs of the latest news and personal flavorings. As a writer, I think you’d enjoy the challenge. As Irene Selznick said, “What makes a good sauce great? REDUCTION!”
When the RNC is in town, Twitter will be atwitter with what’s happening. Breaking news from the convention will spread like this: newspapers within a day, TV within hours, blogs within minutes, Twitter within seconds.
I’d get on it before September.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Best summary of my opinion of Twitter: http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/4/23/
June 13th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Are all things “Twitter” conducted through twitter.com?