Alright, so I admit it. I'm one of those middle-aged adults who is highly skeptical of the intrinsic value of Twitter. But I'm evidently not alone. According to a recent 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll, only 15 percent of Americans believe that Twitter is an important new tool for mass communication.Thirty-nine percent said the microblogging site is a fad that will fade away, while 43 percent had either heard of it but didn't know what it is, or had never heard of it.
My colleague Larry Baker has recruited me to sign up for a Twitter account, so I'll see if this social media experiment changes my viewpoint. Either way, I readily admit that Twitter has its usefulness for certain people -- not only celebrities -- but journalists and bloggers. During breaking news, in particular, both professional and citizen journalists have used Twitter to great advantage. For example, Twitter was a useful tool in reports about the Iranian crackdown on mass demonstrations this year, especially after Western journalists were deported from the country. Click here to read how journalists are using Twitter. To tweet or not to tweet? That is the question.
I can definitely see how Twitter would be an easy way for reporters to get news out there. If they didn't happen to work for a paper, they can still be a journalist and write articles and updates and things like that on Twitter.
ReplyDeleteBut I think that it's unnecessary for reporters to tweet when they're on the scene. We don't really need that many updates, so one tweet when you've gotten all the info would suffice.
I'm one of those people who think Twitter is useful for many things. It's a great excuse to talk about yourself with a simple 140 character limit. Trending topics can add some humorous quips to your day and for breaking news, either celebrity or CNN, just click "follow." I also use it to keep in touch with my out of state family members who find it just as useful as I do. For people who are on the computer more often then they watch the news or read the paper, it's the perfect way to get a sentence or two of information about what's going on. If you're still interested in reading most people will post a link. With all the technology out there Twitter is one of the easiest new social networking devices to use.
ReplyDeleteI always use to think that Twitter was kind of stupid. I've been on there before and most of the tweets I read seemed pretty insignificant and not all that important, like - 12:01, brushing my teeth, 12:10, eating breakfast, and so on.
ReplyDeleteBut after reading the article, my opinion on tweeting has really changed. I think it's great that journalist are using twitter to aid them in journalism. And I think it's cool that Alex Shebar used twitter to update his readers on the story he was working on. Being able to see how the story began to unfold, and then getting to see the news edition of the story would be extremely interesting. I'd probably go out my way, to view that article, if I had previously read about it on Twitter.
I also think that using Twitter to find sources for stories is a great idea. But I don't really agree with mixing your private life and your work life together on twitter. If I followed a journalist on twitter, I'd want to know about the stories their working on, not what they ate for dinner last night.
I think that twitter is a great tool for journalists. I think that the quote by Shebar says "Twitter is the appetizer, the story is the meal" is perfect for this article. I agree with that statement almost a hundred percent. It's true through twitter you can tell the people a little bit about the stroy they will be reading or hearing soon. Also if someone sees something on twitter that they find interesting then they are going to want to read the article the next day or watch that specific news channel that night so this is a great way to get interest in your stories.
ReplyDeleteI also think that it is a great way to find sources. However you must be careful about the credibility of these sources but as long as you check them out and know for a fact that they are accurate then they are very helpful. Instead of calling around to find a source, you could have one within two minutes of posting your tweet.
Overall twitter I think is a great tool for journalists and I wouldn't be surprised if many more started using it in the future.
I'm a huge fan of Twitter. I blog three times a week and could not keep up a fresh supply of content without it. I primarily follow other educators with mutual interests who tweet great links. But I DO follow some sports journalists. The best know what kind of content suits a column, a blog, or a Tweet (Pat Caputo of the Oakland Press and John Niyo at the News are masters). I enjoy the nuggets of news and commentary they dispense in real time. They also alert me to their blogs and columns. Those who argue that you can't write a story in a tweet simply don't get it. It's sort of like complaining you can't write a short story on a post-it note. That doesn't mean that post-it notes are useless.
ReplyDeleteI used to think that Twitter was pointless but this article changed my viewpoint. I think it is a great idea to use Twitter to update the public on news stories. However, I think that we should stick with writing a full story in addtion to the Twitter updates. I agree with Shebar in that "Twitter is the apetizer and the story is the meal".
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think reporters should be weary to use Twitter to find sources. You should always be careful about the credibility with sources and you should be even more careful when those sources are on the web.
Overall, I think Twitter is a great addition to journalism
Personally, I do have twitter. I started out using it to check out what my internet favorites and idols are doing. After I made my account, I became fixed on it. I tweet a few times everyday and check my phone for updates often. But I don't only use it for those purposes. I follow CNN also and I get updates from my phone about late breaking news. I find it very useful. I think that twitter has a dual motive. I can see twitter opening up a whole new world to reporters and journalism.
ReplyDeleteIn the article I like the aspect that a reporter can ask a question and anyone who follows him can answer him. It gives many new opportunities for new sources.
My opinion on the importance of Twitter has changed a bit after reading this article. It seems to be a helpful tool for reporters who are finding out pieces of information when they're looking into a story. The point that was made, that Twitter updates could help keep interest and cause people to buy papers or read the story in more detail, is, I think, something really great that was brought up.
ReplyDeleteTwitter seems to be an overall useful tool for journalism and reporters.
I think that the use of Twitter by journalists is an excellent idea. I personally do not use Twitter, but it seems to be an good way for journalists to gather information and sources and spread information. If regular citizens 'follow' journalists on Twitter, the journalists allow them to be updated on breaking news and what's happening in their local area. Twitter is especially useful to journalists because most people are starting to use Twitter. It has become a new trend to 'tweet' all the time and use it on your phone. Using Twitter is a great way to stay updated on technology while still delivering breaking news.
ReplyDeleteWhen twitter first came out, i thought it was stupid and thought to myself, why would people want to be letting everyone know what they are doing almost every hour of the day! Now that i have read this article, it has changed my mind of the use of twitter. i think that it can be very useful to reporters by keeping people updated and being able to write down what they needed to write their story about. It is just a different way of communicating so I think it is effective for journalists but stupid for people who have it just to update others about their personal lives.
ReplyDeleteBefore reading this article, I thought that twitter was pointless because why would you want anyone to stalk you twenty-four hours of every day, but now, I believe that twitter serves a couple good purposes. Twitter gives followers of journalists a chance to get a "taste" of what the story was going to be like. It allows for people to get their information quicker than they would just waiting for the information to turn up in an article later on. Now I see that this twitter is helpful in finding sources for information for an article that journalists otherwise may not have gotten. It is very useful and effective for journailists, but for personal reasons, I don't believe it is useful.
ReplyDeleteI have never been on Twitter but after reading the article I believe it could be beneficial to the world of journalism. The way Alex Shebar manipulated Twitter to share breaking news to multiple people was very efficient and usefull. Many people use Twitter and by posting breaking news updates, millions of people will simultaneously receive very important news. It is also a fun and innovative way to receive news other than the t.v., a news website, or a traditional newspaper. Twitter is very modern and up-to-date and reading one sentence of news is less time-consuming than reading an entire newspaper. Once people receive the small news update, they can choose whether or not to read further into the story. Twitter is becoming more and more used by millions of people and it is also, in my opinion, becoming an alternative to the traditional way news is shared.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I do have a Twitter that I use on a regular basis. I first got a Twitter just to keep up with what my favorite celebrities and musicians were doing. As time went on, I started following news sites such as CNN and ABC. It is an easy way for me to see what the latest news is when I don't have access to an actual newspaper or a TV or computer. Twitter is a great alternative for news. Since there is a 140-word limit and most news tweets include a link to a full article, it gives followers a chance to decide whether or not it is an article that would really interest them.
ReplyDeleteTwitter is also a useful tool for journalists. As was mentioned in the article, reporters can get their readers' opinions and it also gives opportunities to get different news sources. On the other hand, journalists need to consider whether the source is reliable. Although I agree with most of what was said in the article, I do not fully agree with mixing your private life and work together. I as a reader would be more concerned with the news updates rather than what they are doing at the moment. Sure, a post every now and then would be okay, but if a journalist wants to talk about their personal life a lot, then they should get another twitter and link it to their reporting one so their followers have the choice of reading up on their personal life.
All in all, I think Twitter is a great application for journalists to use.
I think that Twitter is a useful application, if used correctly. When people tweet about something unimportant, like "going to bed" or "eating dinner," then twitter is fairly pointless. But when people are able to put up actual important information, then twitter is very useful. When reporters are able to put up small updates on a story, then it is great that readers can follow it. It is also very useful when it allows a reader to decide if they want to read the stroy or not. I like the point that Alex Shebar made by saying that the tweet is the "appetiser" and that the story is the "meal." Twitter is a great appliation for those that use it for news updates, allowing people to recieve small updats on a news story.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason many people don't see the value of social media sites is because the twitter explosion occurred so abruptly, much of the public had little time to adjust to this relatively new concept of "interactive media". I certainly believe sites like Twitter and Facebook are turning points in modern journalism, allowing even faster and more personal exposure of news (and non-news.) Twitter has the capability to generalize the publics' opinions and interests that can benefit journalists (to find out what their readers are interested in), advertisers, and the rest of society for that matter. Although the "Twitter" craze may not last forever, it has certainly pioneered a new form of journalistic capabilities that will change the way the public interacts with news for years to come.
ReplyDeleteLaura Nowak
ReplyDeleteTwitter is very useful when a journalist needs to collect news stories quickly. It seems like an innovative and useful, yet fun website. However, the saying "too much of a good thing" does apply to this website. A journalist may not need all the constant updates if they already have enough information.
Twitter seems like it would be extremely useful for the followers that want to be updated constantly on news stories, but it also seems that it could hurt the journalist updating the people. If one of the followers was another competing journalist, they would have all the information they needed to get to the story in time to print it in their paper as well. They may even look off of the comments others have posted to take sources from another journalist.
ReplyDeleteHowever, for the most part it does seem that the feedback aspect of Twitter is the most helpful. Without knowing what the community is interested and what they are sick of, a good story is impossible to create.