Obama - Not A Tweeter? Tell Me It’s Not True!!

In the NY Times article “When Stars Twitter, a Ghost May Be Lurking” by Noam Cohen, he reveals that, “Candidate Barack Obama, as well as President Obama, has a social-networking team to keep his Twitter feed tweeting.”

The fact that he’s not really tweeting doesn’t shock me, it’s that he has an entire team behind each tweet. Hey folks – it’s only 140 characters!!

I can just see the morning meetings where the team gets together for an hour-long discussion to decide what that morning's presidential tweet will be.

The article also reveals that many other famous Tweeple are not doing their own tweets. I wasn’t surprised that the likes of Britney Spears, 50 Cents (aka Curtis Jackson III) and others don’t really tweet. I’d be surprised if any of them can spell in the first place.

So what is to be done about this? I know – everyone should set up (or hire) ghost tweet receivers/responders. It could spawn an entire new industry. People - who are not who they say they are, tweeting to people - who aren’t really who they say they are.

Believe me – if someone can figure out how they can do that and make money at it – it will be here before you know it.

Ken

Reporting live . . . via Twitter

Earlier this month I gave a talk on social media at a Contra Costa Public Information Network meeting and demonstrated Twitter. I gave a few examples of how communications professionals and journalists are using Twitter to show that it's not just about people telling their friends about what they had for lunch or that their cat is taking a nap. I just read a great example of a journalist utilizing Twitter to do an outstanding job of beat reporting. Here's what BeatBlogging said about Ron Sylvester, a court reporter for The Wichita Eagle, who has been "reinventing court coverage with Twitter:" Sylvester tweets what is happening during the trial and provides insight into the trial itself. Sylvester is using social media and his blog to transform how newspapers cover trials. No longer is Sylvester being beaten by broadcast media. Instead, his live updates from the court room beat everyone. And unlike live TV coverage of a trial, which can be overwhelming, Sylvester’s 140-character tidbits make following a trial very easy.

Sylvester’s Twitter use also proves that Twitter can be a valuable tool for journalists in less-populated, less-tech savvy areas. Many of the people that follow Sylvester’s court room tweets are not on Twitter. They’re not that interested in Twitter itself, but they are interested in the content that Sylvester produces on it. These people either follow along on Sylvester’s Twitter page or on blog where his tweets are embedded.

I wonder what communications professionals and journalists will think to use Twitter for next . . .

~ Nicole