Thursday, December 4, 2008

The Growing Fascination with Twitter

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Two interesting stories in the New York Times this past weekend featured Twitter.

One talked about how politicians like Benjamin Netanyahu and sports stars like Shaquille O’Neal were using Twitter to give the public a glimpse into their personal lives.

The other talked about how witnesses to the Mumbai attacks were using Twitter to report on the news.

As the Times reported: “The attacks in India served as another case study in how technology is transforming people into potential reporters, adding a new dimension to the news media.”

But in the hierarchy of minute-by-minute personal observations, some observations clearly take on more relevance if not gravity.

Or stated in the language of “tweets,” it’s the difference between:

Friends brother was killed with five bullets; 8:44 PM Nov 26th
Arun Shanbhag who saw the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower Hotel burn

ABOUT TO EAT DINNER, I PASSED UP 20 MCDONALDS TODAY. I COULDN’T DO IT I’M ON A DIET, BUT MCDONALDS FRIES R THE BEST UM UM UM

Shaq

If both are considered news, how do we process the information?

Let me get back to you.

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Posted by Dan Greenfield at 20:58:15
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