A Little Birdie Told Me You Just Finished Lunch

We’ve all heard of it by now and a lot of us take part in it. Twitter is nothing new and its popularity hasn’t stopped growing yet. Personally, I’ve never given it much credit because I don’t really care what someone had for breakfast or that he or she is hanging out at home. That is until I came across a really interesting article online.

The American Journalism Review published “The Twitter Explosion” by Paul Farhi earlier this year. The article doesn’t just focus on how popular the site has become, but instead looks at how it helps or hurts journalists. The article talks about the fact that popular news shows and reporters can now easily be followed on Twitter. Farhi takes it a step further by noting that journalists are using the site in the field as a reporting tool. They tweet while covering breaking stories and one reporter was even permitted (by the judge) to do the same while covering a very important trial from inside the courtroom. That event was first time anyone had ever been given permission to do so. Farhi notes, though, that using Twitter works best if what is being reported is changing at lightening speeds. The article talks about how journalists are using the site of find facts, new stories, and other sources. Farhi mentions, in the story, that Twitter isn’t just for kids. More people over the age of thirty-five have an account than do their younger counterparts. One major issue involving Twitter and journalists it that they have to be careful about what they tweet. Because if they post something, others will see it, and whether it’s true or not it will spread like a wildfire. All-in-all the article sets out to show how that Twitter has definite benefits to journalists and they are becoming aware of this at a rapidly increasing rate.

The article really made me think about what the site can really do. It’s not just a silly waste of time where people can rant about random things, or give minute by minute updates about their daily activities; it actually has substance to it. I’m actually really impressed that the news world has tapped into Twitter’s capabilities and used them to get the word out.