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 June 2009 will be remembered as the month of breaking news stories; from the civil unrest that followed Iran’s much contested presidential election, to the death of the King of Pop, people were glued to their television screens waiting for the next byte of information. Or, more accurately, they were glued to their computer monitors.
If that busy month of breaking news proved anything, it proved that the power to spread information around the globe is no longer just in the hands of multi-billion dollar conglomerates and cable news networks. Instead, average everyday citizens—people just like you and me—now have a hand in that power, and we have the social networking site Twitter to thank for it.
But, wait…let’s back up for a second: What exactly is Twitter?
In essence, Twitter is a Web site that users visit to update their friends and family (or “followers” in Twitter lingo) with what’s going on in their lives. Each entry, or “Tweet,” is kept brief (under 140 characters) to get the information out as quickly as possible. It can be easily accessed from either your home computer or your mobile device, which makes immediate updating a reality. And the best part? It’s all free.
Some people use Twitter strictly for social use: keeping in touch with loved ones, figuring out if someone has arrived at a destination safely, etc. Businesses have hopped aboard the Twitter train as well, using it as a promotions and marketing tool to connect with both customers and potential customers.
But who exactly uses Twitter? Well…pretty much everyone. President Obama has a Twitter account that he updates regularly. (Or, more accurately, that one of his assistants updates regularly.) Oprah has an account, as does singer/songwriter John Legend, talk show host Ellen Degeneres, and probasketball player Shaquille O’Neal.
Carrie Antlfinger, a reporter for the Associated Press, a prestigious news agency that has been around for over 150 years now, also uses Twitter. Based out of the Milwaukee branch for almost 10 years now, Antlfinger originally joined the social networking site for the same reason most people sign up. “I got started because everyone was using it,” she admits.
And she’s not kidding. In February 2009, Twitter was ranked the third most used social networking site, with estimated site traffic around 55 million visits every month.
But what began simply as a way to communicate with friends and family soon morphed into something else for her. As a reporter on the lookout for breaking news and reliable sources, Antlfinger began looking at Twitter as more of a professional tool. Reporters are using it as a way to find new sources and verify stories they read from less journalistic “news” sites. Sites like the celebrity-stalking TMZ, for example.
So, on June 25, when Antlfinger found herself sitting in the offices of the Associated Press, where did she first hear the news about Michael Jackson’s death?
“Twitter,” she admits. “But I didn’t believe it until the AP had it.”
And rightfully so. The very power of Twitter is also its Achilles’ heel. The site can spread around baseless rumors just as easily as it can cold, hard facts. In the hours after Jackson’s death, for example, rumors spread on Twitter of more celebrity deaths, including Harrison Ford, Liza Minnelli, and Jeff Goldblum. All are actually alive and well…or at least that’s what Twitter is telling me as I write this.
Rather than fight Twitter, companies like the AP have decided to embrace the technology and use it to their advantage with the hopes that this social networking tool will make them a more accurate and instantaneous source of news.
“The AP is trying something new with Sonia Sotomayor’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearings,” Antlfinger explains. “We’re asking Twitter users what we should cover in the hearings and what questions reporters should ask.”
The hope is that Twitterers will become more involved in the process and therefore, have more of a stake in what’s being reported. The process now seems light years beyond the idea of sitting down every night and listening to one reporter sum up the entire day’s events into one half-hour show.
But is Twitter really here to stay? Is this the next evolutionary step in news and reporting? Or, five years from now, will it be a social networking dinosaur—something we remind each other about by saying, “Remember back when everyone was communicating with each other in 140 characters or less?”
According to Antlfinger, only time will tell.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes a relic,” she admits, “but I can see myself using it for years to come. Its lifespan will depend on whether it keeps up with the competition.”
And yes, that statement was way over the 140 characters she was given.
To board the Twitter train, visit twitter.com. ¶
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