For the Record
Dean Wright on Ethics, Innovation and Values
Twittering away standards or tweeting the future of journalism?
I’ve been tweeting from the World Economic Forum, using the microblogging platform Twitter to discuss the mundane (describing crepuscular darkness of the Swiss Alps at 5 a.m.) or the interesting (live tweeting from presentations).
Is it journalism?
Is it dangerous?
Is it embarrassing that my tweets even beat the Reuters newswire?
Am I destroying Reuters standards by encouraging tweeting or blogging?
(These aren’t rhetorical questions – I’ve been challenged by many people who would answer those questions as No, Yes, Yes, and Yes! I answer them as Yes, Potentially, No and No.)
David, its most interesting to read your blog. But as you demonstrate most clearly, twittering is a good tool for short messages only. It is not a tool for analysis or developing anything close to a complex idea.(Unlike blogging).
While democratization of the media is undoubtedly a phenomenon of our times, I am not quite sure that twittering small packets of information will make a huge difference in this regard. Too much information (without analysis) can be as painful as too little information. How does Haruki Murakami put it? Just shovelling cultural snow?
Anyway, please do twitter your next blog, I look forward to reading it….