Twitter me this…
I first signed up for Twitter a while ago. I heard about it, signed up to check it out, and then went back to Facebook. However, a few months ago I started getting bored with Facebook. Yeah, it’s been great reconnecting with a huge number of former classmates and co-workers but when everyone keeps send app invites and I spend more time ‘ignoring’ them all than I do actually catching up with old friends, well I just felt like staying away.
On a whim with nothing really in mind, I took another look at Twitter. It started to make some sense. After all, I’d been dealing with the Facebook newsfeed. However, I started following a few interesting Twitters like @LanceArmstrong and @cnnbrk and it sorta dawned on me. Everyone refers to Tweeting as MicroBlogging. A blog post kept uner 140 characters. I’m not sure that description really helps. I see it as a combination of things. Yeah, brief blog comments but also, it acts as a pseudo RSS reader–click on the link—but most of all, it’s a type of open IM client. You type something, anyone can respond.
This is what took me a while to figure out. Yeah, if you’re a 7-time Tour de France champion, you’ll have plenty of people interested in what you have to say, but what about the rest of us? Well, you can use Hashtags.
Hashtags (that’s the # sign you have to press on your phone all the time) provide a channel for people to find others with a similar interest. For me, I use #MLS and #Lost quite a bit but there are others. Once I figured out how to search for them, I was able to find all kinds of comments and discussions about things I’m interested. Yeah, it’s still mundane but if you’re a soccer fan living in the US, you sometimes need a little push to find like-minded people. On top of that, it’s fun to follow games or events using them and read what others are posting….try a search for #Lost while it’s on.
But the real revelation came the other day. I have TweetDeck open most of the day on my computer and check it periodically. I was simple enough. A post from @Levi_Leipheimer, another cyclist I admire.
Shit! Lance crashed and is out. Possible broken collarbone!!
It was simple. Not even close to 140 characters but everyone who was interested knew @LanceArmstrong wouldn’t be finishing the Vuelta. We’d have to wait to see about the Giro and, probably most importantly, the Tour. Traditional news media, even those on the internet, took hours to get much up. Bits and pieces…a video of our hero sitting on the side of the road holding his shoulder posted by some Spanish media…but I don’t speak much Spanish. All the information available for this breaking story, was presented to us via Twitter. At a time when newspapers are closing, they don’t need this kind of competition. But how can they? After all, who’s going to provide us information quicker than @LanceArmstrong has?
I’m alive! Broken clavicle (right). Hurts like hell for now. Surgery in a couple of days. Thanks for all the well wishes.
Yes, fans have been sending him messages like crazy.
Sitting here with @johanbruyneel at his house. Glass of wine, cheese and crackers. Now going to bed. Night, y’all.http://twitpic.com/2e0z4
Sitting in the airport getting ready to fly home. Layover in NYC then ATX!! http://twitpic.com/2efje
Btw, hard to tweet left handed.
Back in the good ol’ U S of A..
Back in austin. Headed to the doctor’s office.
At the doc’s office. I guess it wasn’t such a “clean” fracture after all. Bummer.
Getting a CT scan now.
At home finally. Whew. Long coupla days. Surgery at 7am tomorrow.
Good morning. Ready to get this over with. “Higs” (my manager) will update when it’s over and keep y’all updated.
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