Stay Informed With DI Twitter Accounts

Are you a news junkie? Do you love finding out the latest breaking information as soon as it goes public? Or are you just interested in following a particularly obscure topic that doesn’t get mentioned often in your area newspapers or TV news broadcasts?

If you answered affirmatively to any of the above questions, there’s an increasingly popular online communications service you should check out. It’s called Twitter. And it’s free and simple to use.
Those who like getting the most up-to-date information from their local media sources have plenty of options on Twitter, even in eastern Iowa. The Daily Iowan, the Gazette, the Iowa Independent, and the Little Village all post information and links to full stories on their accounts. Numerous other regional, national, and global news outlets have accounts as well.

Here at the DI, we maintain several Twitter accounts. Our Metro section’s account, which can be found at Twitter.com/TheDailyIowan, sends out breaking news alerts as well as headlines from and links to top stories from the daily paper. Offering a more interactive and personable online presence, we also have an account at Twitter.com/DrDaily. But if you’re looking for updates that are more outspoken and provocative, then Twitter.com/DIOpinions is for you. There you’ll find links to a wide variety of sites with information related to some of the most frequently discussed topics on the Opinions page. Finally, Daily Iowan TV also maintains a presence on the service at Twitter.com/DailyIowanTV.

But what makes Twitter unique?

Perhaps the most initially confusing aspect of this service is that it limits users’ updates to 140 characters (letters, numbers, and symbols) each. That’s only two or three sentences and it severely limits the amount of information that a single Twitter message, also called a Tweet, can convey. But that’s part of the point. Twitter updates keep people informed in real time. The most important thing is getting the headline out there as fast as possible. But one can also include links in the updates that allow people to click through to read the whole story.

However, the main reason behind limiting Twitter updates to 140 characters is that Twitter is designed to integrate with one’s cell phone. After a person has signed up for an account at Twitter.com, he or she can then go to the settings menu and follow simple instructions to link that account with a particular cell-phone number. Having done this, one can then receive updates from users of one’s choosing as text messages. And it’s also possible to send texts from one’s own cell phone that then post as updates on one’s Twitter page. This way, people no longer have to either be working on a computer or have a mobile Internet device with them in order to remain aware of what’s going on in the world.

Twitter also has many other interesting uses and features, but most of them are better discovered online than described in print. So start up an account, and give it a try. It’s a whole new way to interact with your news outlets of choice — and give us feedback, both negative and positive.

Jay Rosen Explains Mindcasting

The NYU journalism professor and influential Twitter user has recorded a video--which he, of course, sent out via Twitter:


(http://seesmic.com/videos/FNwocVJU2d)

Here's the LA Times article about the new concept.

"My Stalker Just Grunted On My Twitter"

Posting this video involves too much irony for me to resist--via (even more ironically) @jiconoclast on Twitter:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Twitter Frenzy

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

(http://www.thedailyshow.com/video)

An Explanation Of Twitter's Spectacular Growth

(http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/473)

About this talk:

In the year leading up to this talk, the web tool Twitter exploded in size (up 10x during 2008 alone). Co-founder Evan Williams reveals that many of the ideas driving that growth came from unexpected uses invented by the users themselves.

And, although I've already mentioned it once today, I might as well link the Daily Iowan Opinions Twitter account from this post, too. Sign up and follow us--it's seriously the best thing since e-mail.

The Podium's Readership Is Growing

According to Google Analytics, which I use to monitor user traffic on this blog, we will break 3,500 unique visitors this month. Though that's not exactly staggeringly high, I think it's a pretty decent number for an obscure opinions blog at a college newspaper. But, of course, I'd love to do even better next month. And that's where you, the reader, come in.

If you enjoy this blog, please do your best to get the word out about it. Especially if you live in Eastern Iowa or are in any way connected with the UI, make sure your friends all know about the Podium. Linking posts from other blogs, social networking sites, etc. is strongly encouraged. And so is commenting--regardless of what you have to say.

Finally, I just want to thank everyone who reads this blog. Even if you never leave any feedback, simply knowing that you're paying attention makes all the effort I put into this endeavor worth it.

Update:

I figured I might as well toss in a plug for our Twitter account as well. Check it out at twitter.com/DIOpinions. There we're up to 77 followers, many of whom are influential Eastern Iowa journalists. So follow us and join the discussion.

Like Our Blog? Check Out Our Twitter Page!

You can get our Twitter updates on the Podium's sidebar, on the dedicated page, in an RSS feed reader, on your cellphone, and even a few other ways if you really want.

Here's a taste:

* Al Franken owns Ann Coulter on who in history they'd be to change things: http://is.gd/eAX3. Via Minnesota Independent: http://is.gd/eCqK. 46 minutes ago
* http://is.gd/eDRQ: "A new study puts the generation costs for power from new nuclear plants at ... triple current U.S. electricity rates!" about an hour ago
* http://is.gd/eDHl: "To boost recruits, US Army relaxes weight rules." Yet the queers are still unwelcome. Rational basis problems anyone? about 2 hours ago
* Sorry, Hannity: I'm no fan of political dynasties, but Caroline Kennedy isn't half as stupid as Sarah Palin. about 2 hours ago
* Yes, Hannity/Coulter, seventh graders should know how to put condoms on. It's a great way to prevent disease and teen pregnancy. about 3 hours ago

Wikipedia provides good basic information about Twitter.

For more on Twitter and social media in general check out the FASTforward blog.

Jay Rosen: A Twitterer Worth Following

Rosen is a journalism professor at NYU. According to his faculty bio:

Rosen is the author of PressThink, a weblog about journalism and its ordeals (www.pressthink.org), which he introduced in September 2003. In June 2005, PressThink won the Reporters Without Borders 2005 Freedom Blog award for outstanding defense of free expression. In April 2007 PressThink recorded its two millionth visit.

...

In 1999, Yale University Press published his book, What Are Journalists For?, which is about the rise of the civic journalism movement. Rosen wrote and spoke frequently about civic journalism (also called public journalism) over a ten-year period, 1989-99. From 1993 to 1997 he was the director of the Project on Public Life and the Press, funded by the Knight Foundation.

Check out his Twitter page here: http://twitter.com/jayrosen_nyu.

Rosen provides excellent analysis of the media's coverage of the 2008 election. I especially appreciate his savaging of the vapid horse-race narrative and thorough deconstruction of the absurd elevation of neutrality over truth.

News via Twitter

If you're not yet using Twitter, I highly recommend giving it a try. My page is probably primarily of interest to those who know me well, but I really enjoy sharing quirky observations I'd otherwise probably keep to myself.

However, mainstream media outlets all seem to be rushing to adopt this new medium. CNN, the BBC, and the New York Times are just a few examples. I can more easily think of good ways to integrate this technology effectively into the metro, sports, and arts sections than op-ed. Can anyone think of a good opinions-related use for Twitter other than simply sending out titles of and links to opinions pieces and columns?