Comments on: The Power of Twitting http://www.markborkowski.co.uk/the-power-of-twitting/ A varied study of improperganda Sun, 04 Sep 2011 06:47:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: naomieve http://www.markborkowski.co.uk/the-power-of-twitting/comment-page-1/#comment-10369 naomieve Sat, 29 Nov 2008 05:12:29 +0000 http://www.markborkowski.com/?p=7797#comment-10369 This is an email I sent to CNN: --- I am the Twitter user naomieve referred to in the article. I would like to provide some context around the tweet quoted by CNN.com. The tweet Stephanie Busari refers to was NOT supposed to promote the social media aspects over the realities of what was happening to Mumbai. I actually expanded further on this tweet to argue why I was disappointed that the focus of many tweets regarding Mumbai was to congratulate social media and Twitter for being faster on the uptake than traditional media. I go on to expand on this in a discussion with Twitter user gyokusai where I say "#mumbai is a media experiment while mumbai is the city under attack that Twitter half the time forgets is bleeding". That is - the Mumbai experience on Twitter is half genuine citizen journalism in action, and half self-congratulatory social media participants just happy to see a lot of publicity for Twitter regardless of the actual situation on the ground. It is precisely that mix of content which was disturbing me at the time. Unfortunately that is also the reality of citizen journalism, the Twitter experience, social media - the whole online experience of no quality control or central control over the message to be delivered. I still believe Twitter is a crucial tool for circulating information, from, among and to the people who are in that moment and hoping for a happy ending. But I was and still am upset that users are more interested in what the Mumbai horror meant for Twitter, than what it meant for humanity. Unfortunately, for all the Twitter fanatics may like to argue, the two are NOT identical! --- This is an email I sent to CNN:
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I am the Twitter user naomieve referred to in the article. I would like to provide some context around the tweet quoted by CNN.com. The tweet Stephanie Busari refers to was NOT supposed to promote the social media aspects over the realities of what was happening to Mumbai.

I actually expanded further on this tweet to argue why I was disappointed that the focus of many tweets regarding Mumbai was to congratulate social media and Twitter for being faster on the uptake than traditional media.

I go on to expand on this in a discussion with Twitter user gyokusai where I say “#mumbai is a media experiment while mumbai is the city under attack that Twitter half the time forgets is bleeding”. That is – the Mumbai experience on Twitter is half genuine citizen journalism in action, and half self-congratulatory social media participants just happy to see a lot of publicity for Twitter regardless of the actual situation on the ground.

It is precisely that mix of content which was disturbing me at the time. Unfortunately that is also the reality of citizen journalism, the Twitter experience, social media – the whole online experience of no quality control or central control over the message to be delivered. I still believe Twitter is a crucial tool for circulating information, from, among and to the people who are in that moment and hoping for a happy ending. But I was and still am upset that users are more interested in what the Mumbai horror meant for Twitter, than what it meant for humanity. Unfortunately, for all the Twitter fanatics may like to argue, the two are NOT identical!
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]]> By: Rob Brown http://www.markborkowski.co.uk/the-power-of-twitting/comment-page-1/#comment-10368 Rob Brown Fri, 28 Nov 2008 18:48:47 +0000 http://www.markborkowski.com/?p=7797#comment-10368 I strongly agree with both assessments. Twitter provides an extraordinary route to news which is un-moderated and immediate. The lack of editorial intervention also means that some people will always use it without care or responsibility. That is why it won't replace traditional channels but it has added another dimension. The importance of "old" media was well illustrated by the Today programme's coverage of the Mumbai attacks. I blogged about this here http://pr-media-blog.co.uk/mumbai-terror-and-the-power-of-radio/ but read the comments - some powerful sentiment. I strongly agree with both assessments. Twitter provides an extraordinary route to news which is un-moderated and immediate. The lack of editorial intervention also means that some people will always use it without care or responsibility. That is why it won’t replace traditional channels but it has added another dimension. The importance of “old” media was well illustrated by the Today programme’s coverage of the Mumbai attacks. I blogged about this here http://pr-media-blog.co.uk/mumbai-terror-and-the-power-of-radio/ but read the comments – some powerful sentiment.

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