Twitter Journalism » Commentary

Back To The Future And The Blind Acceptance Of Tweets As Truth

Kevin Loker — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 04:54:07 +0000

I love the 80’s, and since the time I pretty much left my mother’s womb, I’ve loved the movie Back to the Future. When I was cast a mad scientist in a middle-school play, my inspiration was Doc Brown. When I was cast as a teenager in a musical about the 1980’s, my inspiration could be no one but Marty McFly. I even bought a puffy vest for the occasion.

So when I saw a tweet yesterday, July 5 2010, saying that we had finally reached the date that Doc set the DeLorean for in Part I of three-part series, I did what any time-traveling, Biff-hating fanboy would do—I immediately retweeted it.

Great Scott, what a mistake. By retweeting the “fun fact” (and sharing my sadness over my lack of hoverboard), I had contributed to the one thing that worries me the most about Twitter: the over 88 mile per hour dissemination of false information. See, “Back to the Future” quickly became a Trending Topic, but it did so with one major problem. , Despite how cool it would have been, the information in the original tweet wasn’t true. It was actually blatantly wrong.

This was pointed out first (at least to me) in a post by @saleemkhan:

@saleemkhan: “conclusive video proof that today is not Back to the Future day: http://is.gd/dgiy2 thanks to @edbott.” [RT @mathewi]

That link has since been taken down, but I found another. Let’s first pause and enjoy the nostalgia. Then we talk about how serious of a problem this is for social media.

The video clearly shows that July 5, 2010 is not the date. Later in the movie, Doc Brown sets the Delorean for November 5 2015, picking “30 years in the future” as a “nice round number” for where he was going next. Spotting the mistake is easy with a bit of fact-checking. But more often than not, we don’t always fact-check what we retweet. Sometimes, like this time, we just accept what we read as true.

I actually wrote a blog post about this cultural habit of accepting tweets (and headlines) as true earlier this semester. In short, Twitter can be dangerous for the general public. For people who glue themselves to HootSuite and Seesmic and only step away to eat and use the restroom (us), misleading or inaccurate tweets are not a problem. We’ll notice when they’re corrected, whether it be by a random observer or the person who made the mistake in the first place. We then go on with our lives knowing what’s true.

The general public doesn’t do that. They’re left holding onto that false information, thinking its correct, because they saw it, took it in, and moved on. This is a widespread habit with the inherent speed in which we digest social media. It’s not restricted to Twitter.

Before I found the “conclusive video proof that today is not Back to the Future day,” I made the mistake of posting the fake piece of trivia as my Facebook status. Once I found out it was wrong, I immediately left a comment jokingly saying that “someone lied to me” and more importantly, letting everyone know that today was not the day in the movie. What happened next, after I made the correction? Five people “Liked” my status. They didn’t take the time to see the correction.

We, as a culture, inhale social media. We don’t digest it. My last post was targeted towards news organizations. It emphasized the responsibility of the press in preparing news for a medium that spreads information so quickly. This post is for everyone. We all need to recognize the power of a tool like Twitter for spreading information. We need to put some thought into – and heaven forbid, even double-check – the content of the 140 characters we decide to post.

MTV Movie Awards Fashion Guide For the Everyman

Michael Oxenrider — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 23:58:42 +0000

Or The Unfashionably Older

MTV broadcasted it’s 2010 Movie Awards. As the red carpet rolled out teens and pop-culture fans from around the world began tuning into to see the pomp, trend, and which artists would be receiving the “Golden Popcorn.”

The allure of fashion was complimented by Sway, Snooki and the “fierce” spikey-haired Christian Siriano who won a fashion design contest on Season 4 of Bravo’s reality show Project Runway. The show has since moved to the Lifetime TV channel. The pre-amble to the red carpet walk was a cross-promotional stunt where Snooki, a star from a an MTV reality show called Jersey Shore, had an MTV-hosted challenge where viewers would decide what dress she would wear for the awards. She then worked the Red Carpet as a correspondent.

Snooki (Nicole Polizzi), who I must confess to having never heard mentioned before, made the claim that she will be hottest on the walk. It is unclear if this was meant seriously, sarcastically, or if sheer bravado may be what it takes for a start to rise above the din these days.

SiressB Who is snookie and why is she on my TV with her dress painted on? 07 Jun 2010 from txt

There is a certain difficulty in reviewing a fashion show without having the the licensing to post specific images. Links are supplied. As of the posting of this review, the best source to see the most variety of outfits is still MTV. Pull up another window and see if you have the same impressions.

I was watching Television when MTV had it’s first broadcast. Suffice it to say, this was when they still played videos. However, that statement itself has become so clichéd that anyone over the age of 25 is probably sick of hearing it and anyone under that age probably thinks it’s irrelevant.

The point is; I am expected to have a limited knowledge of who many major players are and even less of clue as to what is considered best-dressed to the MTV crowd. This review isn’t meant to insinuate that fashion is something that can be objectively quantified, nor would I have the gall to imply that my tastes should at all influence another’s. However, we can all be judge, jury and executioner when it comes to whether or not we are being entertained. And the truth is, some of the digs worn tonight were pretty entertaining.

Most of the stars that walk out onto the carpet were dressed in envelope-pushing or skin-revealing wardrobes, as expected.

e7iu5tyt MTV Movie Awards – Best Dressed : Christina Aguilera http://tinyurl.com/2whr688 Worst Dressed : Lindsay Lohan http://tinyurl.com/2v5puzl 07 Jun 2010 from web

mtvmoviesblog Lindsay Lohan on the 2010 MTV Movie Awards Red Carpet http://bit.ly/8XA3lw 07 Jun 2010 from twitterfeed

WantsGossip Lindsay Lohan – MTV Movie Awards 2010 Red Carpet: Lindsay Lohan sparkles and shines in Pamella Roland as she walks… http://bit.ly/cnhEYo 07 Jun 2010 from twitterfeed

Silver, glitter and gold seemed to be the most obvious trends.

HotInPopMusic Kristen Stewart walks the Movie Awards red carpet | MTV Photo Gallery http://shrten.com/0qn2 07 Jun 2010 from Twitter4J

Although the actors change, many of the themes on the MTV red carpet stayed the same. The men dressed as immaculately nonchalant as they could muster. Mark Salling was wearing what I suspect is the $500 version of Target’s dark jeans and a flannel. Jonah Hill was in an odd-fitting black suit with a loosened black skinny-tie, untucked grey checkerboard shirt and matching grey Nike shoes. The shoes looked suspiciously like Chuck Taylors.

Despite the occasional glowing orange shirt under a tan suit or some 80s throwback zipper jacket suits, the women were much more gaudy. For example, Lindsay Lohan, was barely held into low-cut bejeweled footie pajamas. Katy Perry was also full of sparkles and not much else, other than blue hair.

revesbyseller #HOT MTV Movie Awards Red Carpet: Lindsay Lohan, Katy Perry and others (PHOTOS): Film and … http://thoora.com/uwbKkJ 07 Jun 2010 from twitterfeed

Audrina Patridge of the Hills wore a simple short dress made out of silver

Audrina Patridge contemplates her next role

shingles. Add to that the style of sandal and the bands on her ankles and arms and she looked a little like she was trying out for Sexy Vulcan on a Star Trek Episode. In the spirit of objectivity (and confusion) I cannot say if this is meant as a compliment or not. Unfortunately, at the time of this article, no pictures of her ankle contraptions were available.

As far as people liking or disliking Snooki’s outfit, there were definite mixed reviews.

alkalinerinnie Anybody watching the MTV video awards notice that Snooki actually CUT that D&G dress with scissors? @daniisue @jimmywelsh @brendanthrashin 07 Jun 2010 from Echofon

alvinward Snookie has finally stepped her dress game up. Thank goodness! #MTVMovieAwards 07 Jun 2010 from web

Carebear900 Wow Warching The Mtv Movie Awards Snookie’s Dress Is Soo Pretty! Wow And Surprisingly She Doesnt Have A Bump It In Her Hair Lol:] 07 Jun 2010 from Twitter for iPhone

The opinions of her outfit may have varied, but much of it revolved around her decision to cut the Dolce & Gabbana dress that her fans had picked out for her to wear (whether or not they correctly spelled her moniker).

savagebirdy Did Snookie really chop off that Dolce & Gabbana dress? The horror! 07 Jun 2010 from UberTwitter

janebear14 OMG what were they thinking making snookie a co-host.omg what happened to the rest of her dress and really could she have any less manners!! 07 Jun 2010 from web

I would like to point out that Victoria Justice wore something I could not only see in the real world but that was also very flattering. It was one of the few that didn’t leave me scratching my head. In fact, I dare say I liked it.

But what’s the fun in the real world when we’re discussing movies?

If the purpose of the participants of this red carpet walk is merely to entertain, as that is there profession, then I can reserve judgement as to who was best or worst dressed. I nominate one outfit in particular as the most entertaining of the evening. That had to be Snooki’s. At least because of the attention it garnered. Maybe after tonight people will get her nickname right.

Why You Should Join Twitter (Part 2)

Tauhid Chappell — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 01:17:50 +0000

Thank you to Kevin Loker and Kaitlin Flanigan for responding to my emails and allowing me to quote you guys in my blog post! You guys understand the importance of Twitter and as a result, it encourages me to learn more about this social networking site and it inspires me to try and persuade other college students to join Twitter.

A BIG THANK YOU to Dr. Leslie-Jean Thornton (the assistant professor at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication)! Thank you so much for reading over this blog post and suggesting some things that I could add to it. These [great] suggestions really improved the quality of this post. Also, thank you for helping edit this post Onto the good stuff! Enjoy

Part 2: Why Twitter is important and relevant to college students.

Social Media at a glance. Twitter falls under “Social Networks.” Courtesy of FredCavazza.net

This post is probably the most important part of my three-part Twitter series. In part 1 of my Twitter series, I explained how Twitter differs from other social media outlets. I focused on what made it different from popular social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. There are some key differences that separates Twitter from other sites, and I highly suggest you read part 1 so you can get a glimpse of what makes Twitter unique.

Part 2 will explain why Twitter is important, and relevant, to college students. Twitter helps connect students with people from around the world, it helps connect students with professionals in the “real world,” it helps link students with different organizations, it unites students with other students and it can help strengthen a college student’s resumé. Continue to read and find out what you’re missing out on.

Twitter Connects College Students With People All Around the World

Twitter has exposed me to so many different people with a wide range of backgrounds. I’ve met people hailing from Oregon all the way to Australia. It’s amazing to follow and interact with both students and professionals from different places, and it’s even more amazing when you find that you share similar interests! The “Twitterverse,” a popular term that refers to the “universe” of Twitter, and also a Twitter tool, contains more than 105 million users according to Mashable.com and businessinsider.com. Both reference the developer conference that Twitter had on April 14, 2010.

105 million people…That’s a decent amount of people! Think of how many users are from different towns, cities, states and countries! There’s a lot to learn from other people in different places in the world, and Twitter is a great site to connect and learn about what’s going on in others lives’ and in their area.

Tying in with learning, with all the people that there is to follow, some things I’ve personally learned (thanks to Twitter) have been specific events that happened in places that I would have never known otherwise. Check this out (—>), Justin Herman, Community Manager for the Social Media Club and also New Hampshire’s SMC chapter president, was on scene of a bomb scare in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He tweeted and even provided a live stream from his phone! I would have never known such an event had taken place if I wasn’t following Justin.
These types of events, some even more serious like the failed Time Square bombing, happen all over the country (and the world for that matter); and there are people who tweet on the scene of all sorts of incidents. These people are able to spread details of an event faster than news sites such as CNN or New York Times can, which is a powerful and an important function of Twitter: it allows for faster distribution of all types of news. News that ranges from hard news, to entertainment, to gossip, to promotions and even advancers on events that will happen in the future (like tweetups, sales or festivals). Twitter is actually where I find a lot of my news; especially news about social media and student journalism.
“A study came out shows 47 percent of people who go to Twitter are looking for news,” said Dr. Leslie-Jean Thornton, an assistant professor at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication, at the Virginia Press Association/Associated Press Conference in Roanoke. This data caters to news organizations and people who are interested in communicating to the world.

“[Twitter is] incredibly useful for leads on breaking news and messages that are important to get out to students quickly,” says Kevin Loker who’s a student at George Mason University and the executive editor for Connect2Mason. “It provided important leads during [George Mason's] recent chemical scare, for instance. Look to events like the Times Square car bomb attempt, or uprisings in Iran. Twitter was more than useful in tracking what was happening in these situations, and that sort of thing isn’t going to change,” Loker stated.

Twitter may be a social networking site, but it also functions as a site to gather and share news. “I have learned about every major earthquake of 2010, Michael Jackson’s death, the airplane crash in Austin and so much more via Twitter. Yes, there is a lot of spam out there; however, if you’re smart, you use Twitter to your advantage, as a resource for building your knowledge and even participating in distributing knowledge,” says Kaitlin Flanigan , a college student at Oregon State University and the news editor for the Daily Emerald.

Besides learning about different people and learning about news that may/may not be happening in your area, Twitter can help college students learn more about their career interests or the industry that they’re looking to go into. Specifically, Twitter can:

1) Connect college students with professionals in their specific career field.

2) Link college students with business organizations who have a Twitter account and are active and responsive to their followers.

3) Unite college students from different schools who are interested in the same field or who have similar majors.

Twitter Connects College Students with Professionals

What’s your major? What are some of your interests? With Twitter, you can search and find professional people who work in your areas of interest. Using “Browse Suggestions,” you can click on one of the many categories that Twitter offers to find people. I’ve noticed though that many who show up are famous/verified accounts, so if you want to follow famous people more power to you. If, however, you’d like to follow more “down to earth” people or locate specific organizations, you can click on the “Find On Twitter” tab and type in a specific hobby or interests of yours and see what comes up.
There’s other options too. Twitter Search is another method to search for specific people or organizations.

And then there is this thing called a hashtag, which are tags in a tweet. If a person wants to search for a particular subject or event, they can search a particular hashtag. For example here’s what comes up when I search for a subject like the #Hokies:

As you can see, Twitter allows me to see a variety of tweets in which others included the same word. The users who use the #Hokie hashtag could range from fans (or rivals) of the Virginia Tech Hokies to students who attend Virginia Tech. They could be alumni who have strong ties to the Hokie nation and that includes professionals who graduated from Virginia Tech (through its undergrad or grad program). Pretty cool isn’t it. (More about hashtags in Part 3.)

It may take a while, but with enough determination, you’ll find people who can help you learn more about your industry. If you follow a lot of people, through time you’ll start locating specific people and organizations of interests. You can do this by looking at who your following, is following! Or check out who your followers are following. (More about following and locating people in Part 3. There are various methods to do it!)
I’m interested in the journalism/film field, so over time I sought out people who worked in those types of industries. Here are some that I follow:

Stacy Williamson, Suzanne Tate, Carla Correa and Jenna Johnson

Stacy Williamson is an ESPN Media Production Recruiter, Suzanne Tate is the opinion page editor at the Bristol Herald Courier in Bristol, VA, Carla Correa is journalist and community coordinator for the Baltimore Sun and Jenna Johnson is a Washington Post student life & culture reporter. A recruiter for ESPN, and three professional journalists…How cool is that? You never know who you’ll end up discovering and finding!
These are but a few of some prominent (and very helpful) people whom I communicate with via Twitter. I would have never connected with any of these people if it hadn’t been for Twitter. College students can do the same, and have all the opportunity in the world if they take some time to look!
By connecting with professionals on Twitter, college students can interact with them and learn more about their possible career choice. Twitter allows professionals to engage with their followers and have a personal voice rather than remaining behind scenes at their job. Through interaction, college students can strengthen their personal bonds with professionals, and this may come in handy for future job employments.

Another person who I’m following is Jordan Fifer, a multimedia producer for the Roanoke Times. I’m interested in possibly becoming a multimedia journalist, and through Twitter I was able to connect with Jordan and learn more about this specific career. We exchanged emails and he sent me an excellent email which talked about what he does for work and what I should be doing if I really wanted to get into journalism. I received excellent tips and advice, and it all happened as a result of Twitter.

This experience could happen to anyone. There’s always a possibility to connect with professionals in your field and learn more about what they do. To me, a lot of college students don’t recognize the possibility/opportunity of using social media to engage with professionals and create relationships that can help them in the future.

It’s critical to understand that connecting with professionals (and future employers) on Twitter, staying in touch and building a strong relationship with them and showing off what you can do can ultimately decide whether you land your next job or not. Steve Buttry, Director of Community Engagement at TBD, wrote an excellent article that gave some amazing tips on landing your next job in digital journalism. Buttry didn’t just give tips that pertained to digital journalism, he also talked about the use of Twitter and how it helped land him his current job.

“Connect and network with people you admire in the business, even if you’re happy with your current job. You never know when someone might be in a position to hire or recommend you. I started following Jim Brady on Twitter months before I knew he might be in a position to hire me.”

Buttry continued with his post and wrote that one day Jim Brady announced a new project for Allbritton Communications, which would be named TBD. Through Twitter, Buttry sent Brady a direct message about his interest in working with him and eventually Buttry was hired.

“It’s not just who you know that lands the job. However, relationships matter. And networking gives you months to make a strong impression on potential employers, an advantage that’s hard to overcome in a short interview.” Buttry made sure to comment that networking isn’t the be-all-end-all solution in landing a job; but developing a relationship through Twitter and strengthening this relationship can be a huge advantage; especially when the competition isn’t doing it.
(Also, go read the article. It’s a gem.)

Twitter Links College Students with Business Organizations

On a larger scale, I also follow multiple organizations that range from the college level to the international level. Starting local, I follow other student media organizations at Virginia Tech like VTTV (Virginia Tech Student Television), Collegiate Times and. Planet Blacksburg (of course). Then there’s Roanoke Times, Cnn, New York Times etc (excuse the recycled image). These organizations pertain to my interests, and I’ve found that many use Twitter as a means to communicate with their customers, recruit for open positions or tweet about discounts/new items in their stores. USA Today wrote an excellent article about businesses and Twitter.

Here’s an interesting and very useful organization that I follow on Twitter, MTV Networks Careers. It tweets out available positions, promotes upcoming shows and yes the account even responds to people too (look at the bottom tweet on the picture). It may be a simple response, but it shows that this Twitter account is actually not a robot, that someone real is operating and pushing out content with a personal voice as well (also note the ^NL in the profile on the top right. I believe that is the signature of the person who is tweeting).
There are tons of organizations like this one that use Twitter as a place to recruit and promote job opportunities. Be on the look out for organizations like this! Who knows, there may have a job opening or an internship that you could apply for. You never know!

Recruiter Stacy, as mentioned above, tweets out job positions for ESPN. Love sports, ESPN and looking for a possible job? Follow her, connect with her and who knows what could happen. She’s a fellow hokie as well

Twitter Connects Students with Other Students

Twitter isn’t just a place for students to connect with professionals. It’s also a site that connects college students with other college students. There are multiple benefits in connecting with college students at your own college and at different colleges. Since I’m interested in journalism, I’ve connected with other student journalists around the country.
Through these connections, I’ve learned how to improve my quality as a journalist, I’ve generated new ideas to enhance my own organization and overall I’ve created stronger bonds with these students. Through interaction I’ve learned what works/doesn’t work for them as journalists and what their organization does to promote news and provide content to fellow students.

To get other college students perspectives, I emailed a couple of student journalists that I met through Twitter to see what they thought about the social networking site. Kaitlin Flanigan replied:

“I think that Twitter is a lot of fun for getting in touch with people, and it’s also incredibly useful for beginning journalists like ourselves for networking. Even though we might live on separate sides of a continent, that doesn’t mean that we can’t collaborate on projects and ideas, and social media is a way for us to network with one another.”
Kevin Loker replied that:

“[Twitter] lends itself well to organizations and businesses, many departments and student groups have adopted accounts, at least at Mason, and frequently update them with the latest news or activities related to their group. And the students who do use Twitter tend to be the most active, or in the know, or at least the most tech saavy. There’s people out there – my guess is on any campus – who see the use in Twitter and use it effectively to share what’s important to the people around them (or “following” them).”
It’s not just journalism. Are you majoring in a different major, like Biology? There are students from all over the country who Tweet and are majoring in Biology. In a matter of seconds I came across Boise State University’s Biology Twitter account. If I wanted, I could look at their followers and see how many BSU students and professors are following them and I could in turn, connect with these students, then expand to other colleges.

By connecting with other students, you can learn what they’re doing to gain experience in the same field. Have they landed a job in the field yet? Have they gained an internship before? If so, what did they do and how did they find these opportunities? What are they doing to enhance their skills that you could be doing as well? All of these questions can be answered if you connect and converse with them. Who knows what you might learn, what you might find and who you might meet. The college students that you connect with through Twitter may become future colleagues, employers or even contact references.

Twitter Can Strengthen the Resumé

I for one, am planning to put down “Networking through Twitter” as a useful “skill” that I possess (or something similar to that). Though I have much more to learn from this social networking site, I hear that companies like potential employees who know how to use social media and social networking sites effectively. Why? It helps the company in terms of promotion and exposure. If they see that you tweet valuable content, follow the right people and also have a lot of followers, it shows that you know how to use a social networking site to your advantage and know how to connect with a bunch of people.

You’d be surprised how many companies are looking for kids our ages with social networking skills. It doesn’t hurt to have it on your resumé and to me, it makes your resumé stand out compared to other competitors because of your knowledge in the social media world. A great article on SSI Review.Org stated:

“Social media makes it so that thousands of people can “see” you and follow your work and leadership. Social media can make you more visible to all the right people – if you use it right – if you market yourself with professionalism and authenticity.”

And it’s true. In fact…Go read the article. Seriously. Right now!!!

As a heads up it’s a good idea to expand when it comes to social media. Use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Foursquare etc. Learn more about all of these social networking sites and learn how to use them effectively. The more you know about social media in general, the more it can enhance your resumé and make it that much more unique.

Why Haven’t Haven’t More College Students Joined Twitter?

Some excuses as to why some students won’t join Twitter:

“Twitter is just basically updating your facebook status,” or, “I don’t care about people putting their socks on or spilling orange juice on their clothes. That’s what Twitter is.”

Believe it or not, these are the types of responses I get when I try to get people my age to join Twitter. If only they knew how much Twitter has to offer, and how much it can help them in finding jobs and learning more about their career choice. Yes, Twitter does have users who tweet things like the mentioned examples, but you don’t have to follow such people. Part 3 will detail on how you can gain followers and how you can follow people that can help you and teach you about your interests.

Join. Socialize. Connect. Learn. Expand your network. Twitter offers so much to college students. Internships, even jobs, can be obtained through Twitter if students know how to utilize this social networking site. However, students must take it upon themselves to join Twitter and be active in order to gain the full benefits that Twitter has to offer. Don’t be afraid and don’t hesitate to start now. What are you waiting for?

Read “Why You Should Join Twitter (Part 1)” here.

Biggest Loser Finale Winner: Reactions About The Show

Lisa Franklin — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 04:21:24 +0000

Michael Ventrella, of Chicago, Ill, surprised himself by winning season 9 of NBC’s The Biggest Loser Tuesday night. After starting the weight loss challenge as the heaviest contestant in the history of the show, he ended up losing a total of 264 pounds by the end of the finale.

As I watched The Biggest Loser finale live, I joined the discussion on Twitter.

leesy_ watching the Biggest Loser finale. @Ali_Sweeney looks fabulous. These individuals r amazing. Love O’Neal. 26 May 2010 from Twitter for BlackBerry®

leesy_ I can’t wait to see the winner. #BL9 26 May 2010 from Twitter for BlackBerry®

leesy_ So happy for Mike! He deserves to win! #BL9 26 May 2010 from Twitter for BlackBerry®

drewdewitt While I am proud for Michael I think Koli got shafted. He had the highest % overall by around 3% #BL9 26 May 2010 from web

leesy_ has not watched this much TV in a long time. Tuesday will not feel the same w/o #BL9. I don’t know if I want to cry more for new ppl. 26 May 2010 from Twitter for BlackBerry®

leesy_ did not realize Koli had the highest % weight loss. That is screwed up then. He should have won. #BL9 26 May 2010 from web

I later realized there was an entire online community dedicated to live tweeting on Tuesday nights during The Biggest Loser. Many openly shared their thoughts while viewing the two-hour program.

ThinspiredBlog Why doesn’t Subway donate that $100k+ to the many kids who will go hungry this summer when school lunches stop? #BL9 26 May 2010 from TweetDeck

AmandaGiardullo Ugh I did NOT miss Melissa, but she does look great. #BL9 26 May 2010 from web

JenGrahamGLTC Sam’s transformation is just amazing! #BL9 26 May 2010 from OpenBeak

JenGrahamGLTC Koli Bear what are you wearing? My t-shirt matches your pants dude. #BL9 26 May 2010 from OpenBeak

AngieRobert O’Neal looks awesome. I love the spring in his step. But OMG … Sunshine. HOT stuff!!! #bl9 26 May 2010 from HootSuite

JenGrahamGLTC Are we going to see Ashley fall off the treadmill AGAIN? #BL9 26 May 2010 from OpenBeak

The excitement carried over into the next day as people continued the conversation on Twitter. Those who had not had a chance to view the program live the previous night were learning details about the show, whether they wanted to or not.

KGreene978 The #BL9 finale was awesome, but even better is reliving it this morning through @Tara_Costa, @HollieSelf & @alivincent ’s tweets! 26 May 2010 from web

AvinMolden @BL9Michael i am very happy to see you win, thanks to you and the rest of BL9 i am starting my own transformation. wish me luck and congrats 26 May 2010 from web in reply to BL9Michael

ShellyDemers LOVED #BL9 last night!!!!! watched every week and am still amazed how FANTASTIC everyone looks!!!! Way to go Michael!!! Astonishing job! 26 May 2010 from web

alisha_hord DVR is as much a curse as it is a blessing. Hadn’t seen #BL9 finale YET and thanks to twitter, I know the winners. Ugh. 26 May 2010 from web

aimees76 SO Happy Michael won #BL9 !! He SO deserved it & looked amazing! Also stoked for Koli!! Yay!! 26 May 2010 from TweetDeck

Gibbles562 @IamSucceeding It was great tweeting while watching #BL9 with you too!!! Can’t wait for #BL10 26 May 2010 from web in reply to IamSucceeding

MAquicksilver @ali_sweeney Can u believe that if voting went the other way Koli would have won & Daris would have won at home prize?#BL9 was voting close? 26 May 2010 from web

slowlybutsure10 I’m so happy for Michael! He looked AMAZING last night! Do you think he and Ashley are dating? They’d be so cute together! #BL9 26 May 2010 from TweetDeck

SamBerke I am so excited for #BL9 finale, everyone looks amazing! Great job and great inspiration! 26 May 2010 from web

A Q&A with Ventrella by Entertainment Weekly can be read here.

Dr. Ian Smith Discusses New Book “Happy” On 1690 Am Wvon

Rashanah Baldwin — Mon, 31 May 2010 19:55:35 +0000

Co-hosting the Chef Cliff Rome Show “Food and Entertainment” on WVON has afforded me many opportunities and I have learned to capitalize on the opportunities when they present themselves.

This past Thursday, Dr. Ian Smith medical expert from VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club did a phone interview on our show.

www.jackandjillpolitics.com/blog/wp

Meeting Dr. Ian Smith was a pleasure and was great exposure for myself because I want to be a health reporter and not to mention I knew our listeners could benefit from his expertise.

Listen as he gives Chicago listeners great advice about health, eating right and living a happy life.
wvon Dr.Ian Smith

Twitter was the first know to that Dr. Smith would be on the show and I was hoping that users would call in as I tweeted throughout the interview.

rashanahb Dr. Ian Smith will B on R show”food& entertainment “2nite@930pm c.s.t on 1690am Wvon, listen live@ wvon.com. chat live 7735911690 28 May 2010 from Twitter for BlackBerry®

rashanahb Listen live to Dr. Ian Smith wvon.com as he give chicagoans health tips. 28 May 2010 from Twitter for BlackBerry®

rashanahb Dr. Ian Smith talks live on wvon.com about his book “Happy” and tells listeners about the importance of exercising. 28 May 2010 from Twitter for BlackBerry®

rashanahb #health on chef rome show 1690am wvon w-Dr. Ian Smith of Vh1’s Celeb Fit Club.Dr.Smith will b@borders N HydePark this sat@4p 28 May 2010 from Twitter for BlackBerry®

rashanahb #obesity is the major health issue w-african americans.Dr.Ian Smith shares w-Wvon 1690am listeners live&what can Bdone 2 change it 28 May 2010 from Twitter for BlackBerry®

– this quote was brought to you by quoteurl

I learned that Dr. Ian Smith lives in Chicago and worked closely with State Farm Insurance to launch the 50 Million Pound Challenge. Dr. Smith shared achievable tips, strategies for dieting and insisted that loosing weight should not be a short term goal. Loosing weight should not be attempted to do so in a week or month but gradually done.

This past April Dr. Ian Smith released his seventh book entitled “Happy: Simple Steps to Get the Most Out of Life” which is on the New York Times Best Seller List.

A Tragedy of Errors: Twitter, Headlines and Internet Habits

Kevin Loker — Fri, 28 May 2010 21:42:29 +0000

Twitter, as great as it is for getting news out quickly, has some complications news media has yet to master.

A quick overview of correcting errors in headlines across different mediums:

Print: You have layers of eyes that read over the paper before it goes to print. You ideally don’t make a mistake in the headline. If you do, you print a correction in the next issue. Most people pay attention to your correction box, because it’s in a regular location and they see it as they browse the rest of your publication.

While damage control is unwanted, it’s possible because of the format.

Web: You probably have a few less layers of eyes that read over your headline before you hit publish, but in most cases, you still have some. You ideally don’t make a mistake in the headline. If you do, however, you can change it by updating the page. Most news outlets will make note of major changes somewhere on the page, because not many people will regularly seek out a correction box on your Web site.

Monkey Wrench #1: A lot of your readers aren’t going to return to any particular story make sure everything they’ve already read is still right. We assume whatever is published is accurate.

Nonetheless, thanks to the format, while damage control is unwanted, you can at least make it visible should anyone decide to return.

Twitter: You probably have one – maybe two – sets of eyes that read over your headline before it’s tweeted. You ideally don’t make a mistake in the headline. If you do, you can’t change it. Most news outlets will send out another tweet noting the correction, because as in any medium, it’s common practice that errors can’t be left completely unattended.

Monkey Wrench #1 still applies. People aren’t going to scan your Twitter feed for corrections. But there’s also…

Monkey Wrench #2: Twitter is live, and people are using it as their news source. More and more, people will use the information they get in 140 characters or less on Twitter as their knowledge source for the day, without visiting an actual news site (and let alone picking up something in print). This is not what everyone does, but as we grow more and more wired to technology and “instant information,” it is important to note that some do. I know many people, including sometimes regrettably myself, who will retweet news material without clicking through the link. Is this ideal? By all means no. But it is a cultural practice.

When put in combination with the format of Twitter, factual or just misleading errors can have far-reaching impact on the general populace.

[EDIT: Twitter user @DevonSchreiner makes a valid point-- on the Twitter site, you do have the option to delete a tweet. You can make the mistake "go away" there. This doesn't appear to be the case, however, with tweets appearing in application feeds like those of Seesmic or HootSuite. Once they're there, they seem to stay, at least for awhile. Moreover, it's after the damage is already done. The "live" nature of Twitter should be the media's main concern.]

“So what, Kevin? Isn’t it common sense that making errors in a profession where your job is to report the facts a bad idea?” Of course. But because of the technology and the habitual use that accompanies it, the stakes are higher. If we the media flub up on Twitter, and my generalizations about the mass public are right, mistakes make the immediately public in the dark when they think they’re most up-to-date. Depending on the situation and error, that could be a little issue or it could be a life-threatening one.

Two notes:

1) This doesn’t affect media gurus. People who inhale news and track it with keywords in HootSuite will know when a mistake is made, they’ll see the correction, and they’ll be “in the know.” The problem lies in the people who don’t focus on news 24/7 (which may be hard to imagine, as we do nothing but that).

2) A degree of responsibility still lies in each individual in your audience. Just as it’s an individual’s own actions that lead them to a correction box in a print publication, it’s an individual’s own actions that make them knowledgeable or ignorant about any given news story. Nonetheless, we shouldn’t expect them to keep tabs in the same manner we do. It’s our job, not theirs.

Kevin Loker (@kevinloker) is a college student at George Mason University and aspiring journalist. The South Dakota native is also Executive Editor of Connect2Mason.com.

Chicago Glee Concert Huge Success

Katie Rosebrock — Thu, 27 May 2010 04:48:02 +0000

The cast of Fox’s hit tv show Glee is touring in concert right now. This week they performed two shows at the Rosemont Theater just outside of Chicago. The shows–Tuesday, May 25 and Wednesday, May 26–were both sold out.

The Chicago shows mark the halfway point of the tour, with only three concerts left at Radio City Music Hall in New York this weekend, according to Gleefan.com.

The tour, the cast’s first, is only stopping in four cities. Despite the lack of tour stops, fans of the show, often called “Gleeks” are stoked for the chance to see the cast live.

Gleeks have been lighting up Twitter with accounts of the concert, often giving detailed play by plays of events.

The majority of Tweets from Wednesday nights show came from two devoted fans who gave a continuous stream of tweets, detailing their excitment for the show and their thoughts on it.

TheGleekChannel *WARNING* Leaving for Chicago tomorrow morning for the #Glee concert. I will most likely will be tweeting A LOT, just warnin’ ya. 26 May 2010 from web

DisneyDork69 I just got a ticket for tonight’s GLEE concert in Chicago!!!!! YEA!!!! Will text song list thru out the show… 26 May 2010 from txt

TheGleekChannel Its starting soon… I could puke from the excitement. 27 May 2010 from txt

DisneyDork69 Theres an opening act – The League of Extraordinary Dancers – LXD! 27 May 2010 from txt

DisneyDork69 The 1st song: DON’T STOP BELIEVING… 27 May 2010 from txt

TheGleekChannel Damn they walked in on the opposite side of my section! And cory was with that group to! Ugh!!! 27 May 2010 from txt

DisneyDork69 The Glee girls sing Halo/Walkin on Sunshine… 27 May 2010 from txt

TheGleekChannel Waiting outside stage door for them to come out.. Right up against fence! 27 May 2010 from txt

DisneyDork69 Seein the GLEE cast in concert must be similar to seein the OSMONDS or the PARTRIDGE FAMILY in concert during thier hey-day…CRAZY!!! 27 May 2010 from txt

– this quote was brought to you by quoteurl

While Tuesday’s tweets mostly came from Savannahyang, who tweeted just about every moment of the concert. A sample of her enthusiastic tweets:

Savannahyang Walking in to the theater 25 May 2010 from txt

JimFalvey I’m at the Glee Tour event at Rosemont Theatre. The bass is sooo loud it’s distorted like crazy. 26 May 2010 from txt

Savannahyang I’m crying LXD is so good. 26 May 2010 from txt

Savannahyang I got all the members of LXD autographs! And pictures! 26 May 2010 from txt

Savannahyang No surprises but a phenominal concert! Chicago glee! 26 May 2010 from Twitter for BlackBerry®

JimFalvey While I was dragged to the show, I was really glad I went. The show was a lot of fun. “Don’t Rain On My Parade” was a show stopper. Wow! 26 May 2010 from web

– this quote was brought to you by quoteurl

Live Tweeting Reactions To “The Good Wife” Season Finale

Rebecca Fiorentino — Wed, 26 May 2010 04:47:53 +0000

“The Good Wife” season finale is about to air on CBS and the Twitter community is buzzing with anticipation, waiting to see if Alicia (Julianna Margulies) will stand by her cheating husband, Peter (Chris North), as he attempts to win back his seat as the State’s Attorney of Illinois’ Cook County, according to Entertainment Weekly.

StephanieMHill watching the Good Wife. I heart Kalinda. 26 May 2010 from mobile web

BoobieDoo21 Time for The Good Wife!!! 26 May 2010 from web

CarrollThorpe time for the Good Wife. who will Alicia pick??? 26 May 2010 from web

nancyberk Season Finale of The Good Wife-Incredible writing, acting,editing! #TheGoodWife 26 May 2010 from Echofon

Yet the focus quickly shifts when Amy Acker appears on “The Good Wife” as guest star Mindy Arkin.

According to Amy-Acker.org, while Acker plays the wife of Jack Arkin (Sean Meehan) on the show, she is actually married to James Carpinello in real life, who regularly plays the role of Detective Burton.

Katix222 ITS AMY ACKER ON THE GOOD WIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 26 May 2010 from web

tapeworthy I keep forgetting Amy Acker is married to James Carpinello. Makes this episode of The Good Wife even MORE interesting! 26 May 2010 from web

TotemMedia Nice to see Amy Acker on The Good Wife tonight. #Buffy 26 May 2010 from web

“The Good Wife” suddenly becomes racy when Kalinda (Archie Panjabi) presumably starts making out with FBI agent Lana Delaney (Jill Flint), confirming Alicia’s speculation of Kalinda’s sexual preference during last week’s episode.

uppoppedafox Kalinda just got up close and personal with a lady fed on The Good Wife! 26 May 2010 from UberTwitter

TwinStyle The good wife is grrreeeaatt. I new kalinda was bi sexual… owwwwww 26 May 2010 from mobile web

rebafan69 I’m watching this show called The Good Wife and I think these two ladys kissed. 26 May 2010 from txt

snp90 Wow! “The Good Wife” goes for the 2010 lesbian kiss too??? What’s the hot thing going to be next year?! 26 May 2010 from TweetDeck

All the while, Alicia is flirting with the idea that she may still have feelings for her old law school friend and boss Will (Josh Charles).

Even though Will is just starting to casually date DePaul University law student Giada Cabrini (Karen Olivo), he finally gets the opportunity to express his feelings toward Alicia over pizza.

BeautifuLUZ “I like myself around you and I don’t like myself around a lot of people.” ~Will from The Good Wife {I know that feeling even tho its rare} 26 May 2010 from UberTwitter

lindseyungar “we always have options” WTF #thegoodwife 26 May 2010 from UberTwitter

laurasteele @starryeyes704 They have incredible chemistry – looking forward to something eventually happening, but I love the build up! #TheGoodWife 26 May 2010 from web in reply to starryeyes704

Unfortunately for Will, the potentially romantic conversation is cut short when Alicia receives a call that her client, Jack, is found murdered.

It is not until Peter’s press conference announcing his campaign plans that Will tries to start the highly-anticipated conversation again, where Alicia would finally be forced to choose whom she wants to be with—her husband or her boss.

And just before Alicia makes up her mind, the credits begin rolling, leaving viewers with a three-month cliffhanger.

DBChen The Good Wife: such a cliffhanger! 26 May 2010 from TweetDeck

cocoaforreal Aww man!! That was some B.S.!!! C’mon we were left to wonder who Alicia would go with in the PREVIEW! We need an answer!!?! #thegoodwife 26 May 2010 from web

tivie24 wtf Alicia don’t pick up… what’s with these shows w/ these 3 month cliffhangers… #thegoodwife 26 May 2010 from web

holly_gamble long 3 months long……………… #TheGoodWife 26 May 2010 from TweetChat

Throughout the entire episode, Alicia’s former competitor Cary (Matt Czuchry), conducted a live chat on Twitter @GoodWifeMatt, encouraging and answering questions from fans using the hashtag #TheGoodWife.

GoodWifeMatt Getting ready to tweet about the show…fans…are you ready??? 26 May 2010 from web

GoodWifeMatt On one hand the success is everything we aspired it to be but completely surreal that it ever happened #TheGoodWife 26 May 2010 from web

GoodWifeMatt @jenwag57 Don’t worry Cary is going to come back into the firm in a big way!!! #TheGoodWife 26 May 2010 from web in reply to jenwag57

GoodWifeMatt Thank you for everyone who is having this live chat with us…if you have any more questions, send them now! #TheGoodWife 26 May 2010 from web

For those of you who have never seen “The Good Wife,” check out this series trailer courtesy of YouTube to get caught up:

French Open: Venus Williams Dressed To Win

Lisa Franklin — Mon, 24 May 2010 04:11:39 +0000

Venus Williams‘ outfit upstaged her win at the French Open on Sunday. While wearing what some deemed lingerie, Williams easily won during the second Grand Slam event of the year.A mixture of reactions about the French Open flooded Twitter Sunday night. The reactions were mostly about Williams and her “racy” dress of choice.

sadisfied Just saw Venus Williams in her “racy” French Open dress. Ouch my eyes 24 May 2010 from web

m1ke77 I’ve never had any chocolate,but venus williams looked damn sweet today. 24 May 2010 from Twitter for BlackBerry®

Kid_Jk #shoutout to venus williams raunchy outfit at the french open..you can see her nipples 24 May 2010 from web

ONYGroup Venus Williams’ Outfit Talk Of Town At French Open- Whistles and whispers circulated through the stands at Court Su… http://bit.ly/9Wv4ki 24 May 2010 from tweet hopper

chuey231 Anybody see Venus Williams racy Tennis outfit at the French Open. It featured lace & resembled a teddy. 24 May 2010 from mobile web

altoona500 If things don’t go well for Venus Williams at the French Open perhaps she can find some work at the famous Parisian Moulin Rouge. 24 May 2010 from web

A few individuals focus on Williams win rather than her ensemble.

DeportesHoy Venus Williams makes a clothes call at French Open, wins first-round match: http://url4.eu/3glkg 24 May 2010 from RSS2Twitter

Trammellb7 Venus Williams Wins Opener Easily at French Open – CBS News 24 May 2010 from API

WHiTE_NiCKi good for you, Venus Williams! http://goo.gl/u562 24 May 2010 from web

snapjudge Good to be a sports fan this weekend. Every game, every set is a challenge – 1st round for Venus Williams in French open & LA Lakers too. 24 May 2010 from web

Mr_Scales >4 me all my teams has been sucking and football season is still 3months away where do i turn atleast ”venus williams”won her match i can< 24 May 2010 from web

Why You Should Join Twitter (Part 1)

Tauhid Chappell — Sun, 23 May 2010 00:43:02 +0000

January 24, 2010, marked my first post about Twitter. At the time, I was skeptical, unconvinced and very unsure how I was going to use this new social medium to my advantage. Now you must understand, at the time I had zero followers, about five tweets which were basically equivalent to Facebook status updates and a cloud of doubt that led me to believe that Twitter would not help me in any way at all.

Fast forwarding to the present, I’m following over 200 people, have over 100 followers and have tweeted well over the 1000 tweet milestone. Not too shabby…But the biggest change of all? I realized I was dead wrong about the value of Twitter.

Twitter offers more than I ever imagined. In these series of posts, I will try to explain what makes Twitter different, why it’s important (and relevant) to college kids and what you can do to maximize this social media website. I will also, in the end, talk about how Twitter has benefited me and changed my whole perspective about social media.

Part 1: How Twitter Differs from Other Social Networking Sites.

According to CNN’s blog, Scitech, Twitter has over 100 million people are registered on Twitter. For a site has been around for only four years, that’s a pretty good statistic. According to Social Media Today, Digital Pulp and Pew Internet, the average Twitter user age is in their early 30’s. Percentage wise, 20% of Twitter users range from 25-34 years old, and 19% are between the ages of 18-24. Students in college fall into this category, and I feel as though as college kids here need to be more aware of the benefits and opportunities that Twitter has to offer.

Before you consider joining Twitter, ask yourself: What do I want to use Twitter for? Am I using it to search for friends? Am I using it to look for news? Am I just curious to see what it has to offer?

Anyone can join Twitter. You can tweet about anything, and everything. Some DO tweet about every single thing they do (annoying, I know). Others actually provide some excellent content to their Tweets, like links to cool websites or questions that spark discussion between different people.

If you join Twitter with a purpose, or have some sort of clue of what you’re looking for, you can quickly learn how to utilize the site so it’s beneficial to your interests and needs. It’s important to know why you’re joining, otherwise it’ll take some time to figure out how you want to use this social networking site.

Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project

There are a couple things that makes Twitter different from other social networking websites (like Facebook and LinkedIn). Some important things to note is that Twitter helps connect people who otherwise would have never have known each other, it gives organizations a personal (and sometimes informal) voice and people use Twitter for news consumption.

Twitter is about connecting with others who you may or may not know. That is one main thing that separates Twitter from other social media websites; it stresses the ability to connect with people who you might not know, but you have similar interests or multiple things in common. With these similar interests in common, you connect and create a stronger bond with the people you’re following.

Say you like guitars, you may follow multiple guitarists/musicians, guitar labels or companies who sell guitars. You may not know the people personally, or the company itself, but you follow them because they tweet about things that cater towards your interest. Who knows, maybe the guitar companies that you follow will tweet about special events that they are holding, guitars on sale or they may even give away free items through contests.

Now, in Facebook, a group or an organization may have a fan page (or like page as I guess they are called now). However, when it comes to specific people, people on Facebook, people may not be as inclined to become friends with you because they don’t personally know you.

LinkedIn is more professional and used to connect those in the professional world. It’s useful and definitely a great way to expand your network, but it’s not as personalized as Twitter. Twitter offers more ways to get personal with people that you are following and your own followers. (I will discuss more in Part 2)

On Twitter, following someone is like a compliment. It shows that you like the information that the person is tweeting about, and want to connect and communicate with them because of your shared interests. People love to gain followers, and many follow people back as a sign of gratitude. As an example, you may follow five people, and all five people may follow you back! It’s a great show of reciprocity, and it builds your followers too! As you continue to follow people who are interesting and share a variety of information, so too will your follower list grow. (Learning how to gain more followers will be discussed in Part 3)

Another thing that makes Twitter different is that some companies/organizations will have actual employees tweet about events, news or even their personal opinions!

To quote Dr. Leslie-Jean Thornton (@ljthornton) when she spoke at the VPA/AP Conference in Roanoke, “[These tweets] show how an institution can speak with a personal voice rather than an institutional voice. It’s not just pushing out headlines. It’s not just a machine.”

For example, a journalist for the Baltimore Sun, Carla Correa, tweets about different events that are happening around the city. She’s not just tweeting links that go back to the Baltimore Sun’s page. Instead, she’s connecting with her followers and interacting with them, by replying to their comments, tweeting about things that are happening in her current location and (of course) talking about her favorite baseball team, the Boston Red Sox. This interaction increases loyalty because people who are following her know that’s she’s real and not just another employer who puts out links to their company. Very anti-robotic.

Twitter also provides users with a lot of news. People who Tweet love to place links to websites of their interests. Many well known media organizations use Twitter to provide news, like CNN, New York Times and L.A Times. These organizations pump out links to interesting articles that are on their front pages, and again their employers also tweet about events that are happening.

The point is, you can find (and learn) a lot of news through Twitter. People want to communicate to others and tell them what’s happening in their area. There’s tons of news being thrown around like there’s no tomorrow.

The people I follow link to news that cover a variety of topics. Anything from Virginia Tech sports to events happening in Australia! If you like to stay informed of what’s happening in the world, in your country, your state or even your local town (provided that your newspaper has a twitter/website), definitely consider joining Twitter. There’s plenty of news to go around, you’d be surprised what people are talking about.

Hopefully some of this information helped. Next up will be part 2, which will talk about why Twitter is relevant to college kids. I encourage that everyone make a Twitter account! Start connecting, learning and building your network. Stay tuned for more.