And believe me, I have plenty of them … <\/p>\n
But this one is basic, straightforward and a bit important: Those who can’t understand Twitter, should reconsider basic communication skills. <\/p>\n
Consider these anecdotes, though any you may find will do:<\/p>\n
President Obama\u2019s social media gabfest<\/a>, which swamped the Twitterverse with thousands of responses yesterday, was touted as a rare chance for any citizen to put questions to the Leader of the Free World \u2014 but turned out to be just another high-tech, tightly controlled campaign stunt, experts said yesterday.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Or:<\/p>\n
Brand new format<\/a>, same old answers. Reams of hype, most of it delivered in 140-character chunks, couldn’t make President Obama’s Twitter town hall on Wednesday as exciting as promised.<\/p>\n
The hour-long event proved to be even less interesting than the average town hall.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Further:<\/p>\n
Associated Press journalists<\/a> have tweeted opinions about the Casey Anthony trial and the New York Senate vote on gay marriage, says Tom Kent, AP Deputy Managing Editor for Standards and Production. \u201cThese [two] posts undermine the credibility of our colleagues who have been working so hard to assure balanced and unbiased coverage of these issues,\u201d he writes in a memo. \u201cAP staffers should not make postings there that amount to personal opinions on contentious public issues.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
These are two varied issues, to be sure, but the hypothesis applies. Understanding Twitter includes understanding the strengths and weaknesses. A 140-character format isn’t the place for diffuse, verbose language, like a candidate desperate to hit his campaign points. One must be brief, concise. (All of the things this place isn’t, come to think of it.)<\/p>\n
Most importantly, however, one must know that Twitter is simply a conversation. <\/p>\n
Which brings us to that last anecdote. Niki Doyle<\/a>, the social media editor at The Huntsville Times<\/a>, asked what I thought about the Associated Press memo. They’re chided their employees from voice opinions in social media, saying “anyone who works for AP must be mindful that opinions they express may damage the AP\u2019s reputation as an unbiased source of news.”<\/p>\n
Assume, for this conversation, that you find the vast Associated Press unbiased in their coverage. Perhaps you do, perhaps you don’t. But assume.<\/p>\n
This policy doesn’t think you can differentiate between human and AP, and not transpose an individual’s opinion to the entire organization. And the policy, while admittedly starting from a difficult spot, demonstrates they don’t yet understand social media (including Twitter). This is a conversation. <\/p>\n
The memo demonstrates they don’t trust their people. Most importantly, it suggests they don’t trust their audience to understand the human\/reporter conversation-opinion\/journalism dynamic.<\/p>\n
These two just happened to come along within a few moments of one another today. As I said, find your anecdote; consider the implications. This isn’t the largest issue the White House or the Associated Press (or any other organization) has to deal with, but it is an important one. <\/p>\n
Linky things:<\/strong> Atlantis, from the pad<\/a>. Robert Pearlman, who took that photo, runs collectSPACE<\/a> which boasts both an unfortunate caps lock issue, but great space content. Do check him out. <\/p>\n
Speaking of space, sometimes you see the heavens just a bit differently from somewhere on our pleasant little rock. This time lapse may do it for you. It won the STARMUS astro-photography competition<\/a>.<\/p>\n