Thursday, June 25, 2009

In defense of Twitter

Farrah Fawcett, RIP. Michael Jackson dead. I just confirmed via the LA Times and CNN that Jackson had died even though TMZ posted it an hour ago. My Twitter feed broke the story and sent me to reliable media to verify it.

This seems to be the message that Carol Schwalbe, associate professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at ASU, and many other speakers impressed upon us this week. While attending the institute we experienced the Twitter revolution of the Iranian elections and just the normal tweets of every day human existance so provokingly reflected in the video about Twitter we viewed yesterday.

Slate's Cultural Gabfest #39 discussed this in detail. It is a 39 minute podcast and the dicussion is the first topic, perhaps 10 minutes. It is worth a listen. Steven Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner, all writers for Slate, discuss the following articles in recent media:
  • Brad Stone and Noam Cohen's article in the New York Times about the Internet's role in protests by Iranians.
  • Conor Friedersdorf's blog post on the Atlantic's Special Ideas Report about Twitter and Iran.
  • Simon Robinson's article in Time wonders whether the election in Iran may have been rigged.
  • In Slate, Jordan Ellenberg looks closely at the math behind the allegations.
  • Ken Ballen and Patrick Doherty write in the Washington Post that Ahmadinejad's win may be legit.
(I copied and pasted the citations from the Cultural Gabfest page but relinked the articles.)

Debbie Aughey
The Spartan Chronicles
Campbell High School
Smyrna, Ga.
dlaughey on Twitter


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3 comments:

  1. KyeJune 25, 2009 at 4:08 PM

    There are two things that amaze me about this situation, Michael Jackson's death.

    One is the incredible speed at which information can be transmitted via social media, but the other is the ensuing scrabble by the main media to verify the accuracy.

    You posted at 3:33 p.m. and here I am at 4:02 p.m. watching CNN who is now running a lower third that reads "CNN has not confirmed."

    One part of me says, "It's not fair that the citizen journalists get the scoop and the mainstream media must then do all the hard work as far as ethical reporting."

    But the other part of me says, "Wow! The speed is just dazzling!I'm so glad I am a part of a society where information is shared so quickly and freely."

    All in all, I think that if consumers are careful about digesting breaking news and continue to turn to the traditional media for confirmation and further details, this new formula for journalism might just actually work out.

    Kye Haina
    Kamehameha Schools Maui
    Pukalani, Hawai'i

    ReplyDelete
  2. KyeJune 25, 2009 at 4:38 PM

    Just an addendum to my previous post, CNN confirmed the death at 4:25 p.m. only after receiving confirmation directly from the Los Angeles coroner.

    Kye Haina
    Kamehameha Schools Maui
    Pukalani, Hawai'i

    ReplyDelete
  3. MissariJune 25, 2009 at 10:15 PM

    As someone who is not a huge fan of Twitter, I will still admit that the site played a huge role in the way information was disseminated today regarding the deaths of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett.

    Within minutes the news spread around the world, and my phone was chirping faster than ever with updates.

    Ariawna Talton
    Molina High School
    Dallas, TX

    ReplyDelete

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