Holy Tweet, What Just Happened?!
Thinking of Twitter as a news medium can certainly be cringeworthy. The very idea of the service takes its name from a word that means lightness, rapidity, and trivial matters. But when something reaches this apex of popularity and adoption, actual important matters are bound to elbow their way in between Kirstie Alley's tirades and Serena Williams' forays into terrifying grammar. Dislike it because it's too "it," dislike it because the logo typeface is bubbly, or because you think "Biz Stone" is a stupid name. None of that changes the fact that Twitter is increasingly being used as a conduit to our already complex social media news venues...and a big 'un.
The adoption of the internet in regard to news consumption allowed for a much timelier standard of reporting. But there were and are a lot of gaps to be filled, the biggest being equal access and equal participation. We want our cake, and we want to eat it five minutes ago.
But it's too much, you cry! The stunning amount of blabber you encounter after a news event of Michael Jackson's-Death standards can be nothing short of astounding. Tiger Woods did whaaaaa? Type type type, blah blah blah, jibba jibba jabba. A lot of people jump right into the hoopla, and a lot of people love talking about how much they hate the hoopla. But you know what is the glory of something like Twitter? Technology being the wondrous mistress that she is, you have the freedom to use these tools in any fashion that suits you. Lists, filters, searches, selective following--all shiny little tools that allow you to only see what you want. You're omnipotent, if you will.
One of the first and best examples of this community based news phenomenon was this year's turbulent Iranian election in Tehran. Even with the government shutdown of television coverage and attempts to control information flows, they simply could not stop the age of mobile electronics. When the police shooting of a young girl shortly appeared on YouTube to be seen and condemned across the world, within hours, the power paradigm has undeniably shifted. As history is happening, suddenly everyone has access to this story AS it plays out. Anyone can contribute, notify, alert, and report, constantly broadening the pool of information we all collectively consume to better understand a situation.
Recently, this concept struck a local chord with the murder of four Lakewood, Washington police officers. The shooting and the following search for suspect Maurice Clemmons played out in nearly real time on Twitter under the hash tag #washooting. This stream was updated by officials, journalists of all sorts, and perhaps most notably, citizens. From news of the shooting to tracking a suspect to announcement of his death to information regarding memorial services--it all played out up to the second, from a powerful combination of information that's become wholly new in the last few years.
The social networks themselves could have shaken out in any number of ways, but the ones that succeed have given us an altogether new way to make, follow and process information and news. It's also way faster to share cute sleeping animals.
