Twitter Rules

I was interviewed for separate articles on the Twitter phenomenon that appeared on the McClatchy News Service and in the Lawrence Journal-World newspaper. I talked about the origins of Twitter, how much it has caught on, and its effects. I further noted how Barack Obama’s Twittering will have a downballot effect on other politicians running for office who want to emulate him.

Some quotes:

“There’s definitely tech envy,” said Perlmutter, author ofBLOGWARS, a book about how political blogging changed elections. When politicians hear about their peers successfully using other media, he said, “you’re going to want to try it yourself.”

“When I first heard about Twitter, I couldn’t possibly come up with a use for it,” said David Perlmutter, professor of journalism at Kansas University and author of the book “Blog Wars.” “I thought, ‘Why would I want to alert everybody that I’m having a tuna sandwich?’ It seemed like something you didn’t need technology to do.” But Perlmutter is amazed at how Twitter has become what he calls “this phenomenon of utility. . .So much of our life now these days is fast-moving, fleeting, and that describes Twitter.”

INTERNET USERS ALL ATWITTER IN ’08: MICRO-BLOGGING TOOL AMONG NEWEST FADS OF WEB LAST YEAR

By Alex Parker

POLITICIANS FEEL TUG OF ONLINE NETWORKING

By Lisa Zagaroli

Twitter was also in the news lately in how it can scoop the news. The Hudson river plane crash was tweeted by a witness who took pictures on his cell phone–and beat all the professional press to the story.

Update on Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 04:45PM by david.d.perlmutter

More and more businesses are using Twitter for employees and customers. A recent USA Today article talks about Twitter and travel agencies. One travel agent compared Twitter to an “information booth.” Another (in the comments) calls it a “mini-megaphone.”

Originally posted January 20, 2009 at PolicyByBlog