Still undecided about the value of Twitter?
Twitter can be a real time-waster - for both readers and contributors! But it can also provide instant information about current events - much more quickly than mainstream media outlets.
What happens when journalists who contribute to our mainstream news publications begin publishing their news (and opinions) to the public Twitter forum? Or when Members of Parliament publish their thoughts about the debate (and thoughts about their colleagues) directly from their seat in the House? Or when teachers begin tweeting from their classrooms?
All bypassing the traditional "mediated" information channels.
Could this be bringing the wider population closer to the democratic and education processes? Is this another nail in the coffin of "traditional" media outlets? Or maybe a re-defining of the role of these traditional media channels in the digital era?
Recent events in federal politics in Australia (Dec 2009) provided a great example of the power of Twitter as an emerging "media outlet". Below are links to just a few of the Twitter feeds from some members of the Canberra press gallery, some Members of Parliament, along with a sample of education-related Twitter feeds....
Note - some corporate networks may block the Twitter feeds on the following pages.
If your network is blocking Twitter access, and you don't have a mobile alternative,
maybe check out Google's Twitter Gadget). |
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