I am now writing my column for YES! Weekly live on Twitter. I apologize in advance to my "followers" for the dozen "tweets" it'll take.#
For those reading this on my Twitter feed Monday morning; this will be reprinted verbatim in the Wednesday edition of the paper I work for.#
Neat gimmick, eh?#
For those reading this Wednesday in print, who don't know what Twitter is... well, I'm about to spent an entire column trying to explain.#
Essentially, Twitter is a social networking site, although it has more in common with a blog.#
Except you can't really comment except with your own Twitter feed. And you can direct "tweets" (new posts) at specific other Twitterers.#
So it's kind of like instant messaging, or texting (you can set it up to post from your phone), or a chat room. Ah, hell... see what I mean?#
Twitter is perhaps the fastest-growing and most inexplicable result of the wave of blogging and networking sites to date.#
In fact, I and many others rejected in at first. Who wants one more website to check every day, one more think that asks you to update it?#
And there's this character limit - the backbone of the thing. 140 tops. There's even a little counter that ticks off letters as you type, un#
See? I went over. Who came up with this, Hemingway? By the way, I made damn sure to spell check Hemingway. This won't be edited for print.#
My editor and I decided that was part of the point. You can't edit Twitter posts (although you can delete them).#
(a fact I'm sure many a hung-over Twitterer thanks god for. Can you imagine how much trouble you could get in with an IM everyone can see?)#
So what wore me down? How was I convinced to join the ranks of my fellow OCD attention-mongers? Besides the fact I AM one?#
The tons of interesting things I've seen done with the format. For instance, the interesting and often hilarious feed of @warrenellis.#
(by adding the "at" symbol to Warren's user name, I made it a link on my feed. Mine is @chrislowrance.)#
Warren Ellis is a superb comics and novel writer, and also has an overdeveloped sense of the comically depraved.#
His posts on seasoning his steak with the tears of the cow it was carved from are top notch.#
Besides following the tweets of favorite authors, musicians and other celebs, Twitter opens up a whole realm of experimentation.#
Dylan Meconis, a cartoonist in Portland, Oregon, recently began @damejetsam.#
Basically, it's an improvisational short story. On her blog, Meconis said that Twitter's restriction on editing made the format appealing.#
An excellent poet and prose writer already, the confined medium suits her, and the story has a wonderful lyrical quality.#
Back in the world of journalism, Twitter has quickly been adopted as a practical tool.#
As Mallary Jean Tenore wrote for the Poynter Institute last year, despite an early backlash many major newspapers have Twitter feeds.#
Among them: @nytimes, @cnn, and @oregonian. The publications post breaking news with links to the full story.#
Here in Greensboro, our only daily paper's online reporter tweets @JohnNewsom.#
Newsom's feed scored a point back in May, when a massive storm did heavy damage in the eastern part of the city at the absolute worst time.#
Early, early morning. So early it was late for the morning edition. But Newsom was able to tweet the whole thing as the facts came in.#
I'm not sure if that's better than a blog with an RSS feed. Maybe it isn't. But something about the immediacy of the form attracts people.#
And as journalists, we've got to go where the readers are.#
I'm still not sure what to do with my tweets (I wish there was a better phrase for that). I do promise not to live-write any more columns.#
I also don't know how long Twitter will really remain this popular. But the concept isn't going anywhere soon.#
So for the last of the cantankerous hold outs: Give up. The future is all atwitter.#
To comment on this column, email Chris at chris@yesweekly.com. Or, if you're so inclined, tweet at him.
For those reading this on my Twitter feed Monday morning; this will be reprinted verbatim in the Wednesday edition of the paper I work for.#
Neat gimmick, eh?#
For those reading this Wednesday in print, who don't know what Twitter is... well, I'm about to spent an entire column trying to explain.#
Essentially, Twitter is a social networking site, although it has more in common with a blog.#
Except you can't really comment except with your own Twitter feed. And you can direct "tweets" (new posts) at specific other Twitterers.#
So it's kind of like instant messaging, or texting (you can set it up to post from your phone), or a chat room. Ah, hell... see what I mean?#
Twitter is perhaps the fastest-growing and most inexplicable result of the wave of blogging and networking sites to date.#
In fact, I and many others rejected in at first. Who wants one more website to check every day, one more think that asks you to update it?#
And there's this character limit - the backbone of the thing. 140 tops. There's even a little counter that ticks off letters as you type, un#
See? I went over. Who came up with this, Hemingway? By the way, I made damn sure to spell check Hemingway. This won't be edited for print.#
My editor and I decided that was part of the point. You can't edit Twitter posts (although you can delete them).#
(a fact I'm sure many a hung-over Twitterer thanks god for. Can you imagine how much trouble you could get in with an IM everyone can see?)#
So what wore me down? How was I convinced to join the ranks of my fellow OCD attention-mongers? Besides the fact I AM one?#
The tons of interesting things I've seen done with the format. For instance, the interesting and often hilarious feed of @warrenellis.#
(by adding the "at" symbol to Warren's user name, I made it a link on my feed. Mine is @chrislowrance.)#
Warren Ellis is a superb comics and novel writer, and also has an overdeveloped sense of the comically depraved.#
His posts on seasoning his steak with the tears of the cow it was carved from are top notch.#
Besides following the tweets of favorite authors, musicians and other celebs, Twitter opens up a whole realm of experimentation.#
Dylan Meconis, a cartoonist in Portland, Oregon, recently began @damejetsam.#
Basically, it's an improvisational short story. On her blog, Meconis said that Twitter's restriction on editing made the format appealing.#
An excellent poet and prose writer already, the confined medium suits her, and the story has a wonderful lyrical quality.#
Back in the world of journalism, Twitter has quickly been adopted as a practical tool.#
As Mallary Jean Tenore wrote for the Poynter Institute last year, despite an early backlash many major newspapers have Twitter feeds.#
Among them: @nytimes, @cnn, and @oregonian. The publications post breaking news with links to the full story.#
Here in Greensboro, our only daily paper's online reporter tweets @JohnNewsom.#
Newsom's feed scored a point back in May, when a massive storm did heavy damage in the eastern part of the city at the absolute worst time.#
Early, early morning. So early it was late for the morning edition. But Newsom was able to tweet the whole thing as the facts came in.#
I'm not sure if that's better than a blog with an RSS feed. Maybe it isn't. But something about the immediacy of the form attracts people.#
And as journalists, we've got to go where the readers are.#
I'm still not sure what to do with my tweets (I wish there was a better phrase for that). I do promise not to live-write any more columns.#
I also don't know how long Twitter will really remain this popular. But the concept isn't going anywhere soon.#
So for the last of the cantankerous hold outs: Give up. The future is all atwitter.#
To comment on this column, email Chris at chris@yesweekly.com. Or, if you're so inclined, tweet at him.
