June 11, 2009

Twitter can be so addicting, so satisifying, so confusing

power tweeterLike many, I've learned that the 140-character limit of Twitter can quickly fill needs. And, I'd be lying if I didn't acknowledge it also can fill time.

Even when I can't write about what I'm finding and learning, I'm out reading the web. The links that I share here often are clicked and I can see that through some of the statistics I review.

On Twitter, the quickest way to see if a linked shared scored is by the number of RTs, that is the number of times people retweet the link you share.

This week it was a link to Search ideas: How To Find People On Twitter Using Google and one to 40 reasons to still study journalism by Social Butterfly that got me retweets (and led me to new people like Jonna Rae and Pat Kitano and Kevin Mannion and Katherine Morrison and Saddek Rabah and )

I was intrigued by the "Search ideas" title when @JamesRiver first sent out the notice that he was done with another post on his blog, Twitter Power System Blog.

I expected - and got - ideas for searching Google more effectively, including more ways to use the site:twitter.com by adding some fields. For example, putting this
site:twitter.com intitle:”on twitter” “bio* * journalist
in the search box of google.com netted me more than 5,000 Twitter names. It looks like it might also work on the Bing.com search site.

Check out the post for more tips on searching Twitter, including using search.twitter.com

Why study journalism

The 40 reasons post is a note of optimism for an industry needing it. So why study journalism when so many journalists are losing their jobs?
  1. We need journalism.
  2. As a society, we need good journalism.
  3. We need good journalists.
  4. We need journalism’s spirit.
  5. We need the next generation’s talent.
  6. Journalism teaches you to be a writer, and a good one.
  7. Journalism teaches you to be a talker, and a good one.
  8. Journalism teaches you to defend your stance, your writing and your character.
  9. Journalism teaches you ethics.
  10. Journalism teaches you to learn on the fly.
Alexandra Ramy gives 30 more reasons, all with explanations. Check it out.


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2 comments:

  1. Thanks for highlighting my post here. Glad to see you found it helpful and hope it encourages others.

    Best,

    Alex

    ReplyDelete
  2. I enjoy your blog and especially liked your 40 reasons. I am like your friend who finds it hard to encourage people to study journalism IF they expect to find a traditional job.

    The skills acquired are great, especially if people use them to create their own money-earning positions.

    ReplyDelete