Scripting News: Is Twitter a news system? (Scripting News)
Dave D.
· 9 months ago
>...with equal alacrity.
No doubt that twitter-like functionality will play a role in news- gathering and/or reporting.
You seem to like focus on the speed.
Speed will play a role, but:
speed != quality news
Did the fact that pictures of the USAir appeared first on Twitter impact how and what I learned about the incident?
Perhaps, but only to the extent that it might have made me aware that _something_ had happened. But the true investigative reporting that occurred in the NYTimes over the succeeding days is what really helped me understand.
I find your Target example more thought-provoking, but it relies on me using my imagination to speculate on why certain parts of the store are empty. I do my own analysis. Can this substitute for some NYTimes gumshoe going out and interviewing people and finding the story behind the story (if there is one)? Yes, if the story is obvious, which this one is.
Twitter will play a role. In alacrity in the delivery of firsthand observations. But I consider this only zeroth-order "news."
christiananderson
· 9 months ago
Dave, you nail it with, "Twitter is a news system, today, it will be more of a news system in the future, and whatever becomes of Twitter the company or their web service, the essentials of what Twitter does is an integral part of the news system of the future." Spot on. It was has people who can see a bit further down the road than what is immediately below their feet so excited.
Mainstream media has demonstrated time and time again that the news to them is what they package up and put in their paper or broadcast. It's that thing that fills 15 seconds, or 3 minutes or 12 paragraphs -- depending on what media they are in.
This thing that you and I and others do where we share with others what we hear or see at Target, etc. is just blather to them. It's a bunch of narcissists navel gazing... for now. That's okay. We know what we have in Twitter (or similar). People are starting to get it. Some in the press are getting it. News is no longer a one-to-many game.
Hutch Carpenter
· 9 months ago
When the US Air plane came down in the Hudson, the New York Times heard about it from two separate places: (1) the regular beat reporter for the police HQ; (2) Twitter. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/opinion/15pub...
hardaway
· 9 months ago
Yes, Twitter is part of the news system. But it's part of a great many other things as well, and one of them you point out about the Target parking lots. It's part of the market research system--it's a focus group. It's part of the cultural trends system -- it spreads stuff like LOL Cats. It is more than just part of the news system: it's the next important piece of the popular culure. It won't "replace" newspapers or "replace" TV, but it will serve a valuable purpose as a pointer to news and a pointer to entertainment, culture, and education. Actually, when you say it's part of the news system you confine it to a small corner of what I actually thing Twitter, or microblogging, or track, or whatever part of it you want to focus on, can be.
youKnowMe
· 9 months ago
Exactly so many subjective tweets produce these objective opinions
Reader
· 9 months ago
From my view, Twitter might be likened to a newspaper. But maybe just the opinion section.
For a real time view into the minds of many, dip your toe into the waters of Twitter Search. But as far as news I think you'll find way more people following the ripples than making a splash.
RochesterREguy
· 9 months ago
You are right about Twitter being a immediate news system! We don't get all bother by the technical stuff, we just say what we see and hear and let people make their own decisions on it.
anonontheashram
· 9 months ago
Biz section Feature writers who turn out one piece every two weeks will likey be the ones who do this Dave. Also, breaking news has always been available from the mainstream media either as standalone blurbs or in conjunction with electronic broadcast outlets, with more extensive coverage as facts become available. Twitter is just the latest channel for such information. Twitter isn't a "newsroom" it's primarily medium for ADD afflicted souls that feel compelled to tell the world that they've just found a marvelous martini in a bar in Vail, Hollywood, or Palo Alto. And, at times, some thoughtful souls push information that does constitute basic news, although it's seldom in a format that has complete information-- which is a limitationon of its 140-word max format. Furthermore most twitter users are unaccustomed to putting basics in their first tweet. it's getting basics in a piece that's important, not just getting it "out there." Twitter is important but the only people who will make money ion it are the souls who own its intellectual property. Bloggers and blogs have been mined for "news," facts and opinion leadrs for a long time and will continue to serve as "resource" information for many years to come. Oh go to a Walmart if you want to see hundreds of people shopping for durable goods. Better yet, go to a (WalMart branded_) HyperMart in the South to see consumers buying not just durables, but also livestock and live stock supplies in one shopping trip. "/you want some hay with that widescreen LCD HiDef TV, and suckling calf, mister?"
Good thoughtful post Dave, Best wishes, Jim Forbes/
LibertyNews
· 9 months ago
Hi Dave,
I added your RSS feed to my custom newspaper at http://www.Libertynewsprint.com. Whatever you post it will show up in the daily edition, even ads. If you don't want it posted let me know. If you want a version you can easily read on your Kindle let me know I'll email it to you daily.
That's very powerful citizen journalism. Dave Winer has put his finger on a news gathering resource with enormous potential.
TMC2K
· 9 months ago
Great point Dave, "Now here's the point -- that's what network news used to simulate, by sending reporters to all the locations to find out what's going on"
This is profound. The key point is SIMULATE. This supports your point from another post about news going direct. Maybe "the news" is going out of business because a) it's not a business and b) it doesn't need to be simulated except for entertainment or political purposes.
Joseph Zitt
· 9 months ago
Reading this, about "Target in Berkeley," I did a double-take. Had they put one in since I moved away a few months ago.
Looking at target.com: I suspect you meant the one in Albany.
Would a conventional journalistic process have caught this?
dave
· 9 months ago
Yahoo Maps thinks it's in Berkeley, that's the source I was citing.
Great analysis as always Dave. I think Twitter is an information dissemination platform. And that bodes well for news. I now primarily turn to Twitter for breaking news. I maybe something that someone is witnessing first hand or it may be something that they are seeing on CNN. In the end one of my followers or the people that I follow will tweet about it. I get news faster via twitter than other traditional sources because I have many listening posts (some listening to local news, some to national news , some gathering their own news).
Because there are so many other things that are posted on Twitter, what lacks are proper tools to mine the news items and that is "why press people have trouble seeing that news is what's happening there". At Twielsen (http://twielsen.com) we have started to prove that with well crafted algorithms, valuable information can be mined from social media streams. The same approaches that we have used to extract TV ratings data can be used to mine other data such as news.
Amy
· 9 months ago
Twitter is a news creation and delivery system, but it also tells you who thinks what news is important.
IslandTrust
· 8 months ago
I have this CB radio-twist-dial keyword cloud focus knob idea where a user can tweak the feed for news/subject/chat to various 'channels'. News system? Dave's right. In a big way. Just watch. We're in the infancy now. Wish I had the connections/chops to implement myself.
All Comments
No doubt that twitter-like functionality will play a role in news- gathering and/or reporting.
You seem to like focus on the speed.
Speed will play a role, but:
speed != quality news
Did the fact that pictures of the USAir appeared first on Twitter impact how and what I learned about the incident?
Perhaps, but only to the extent that it might have made me aware that _something_ had happened. But the true investigative reporting that occurred in the NYTimes over the succeeding days is what really helped me understand.
I find your Target example more thought-provoking, but it relies on me using my imagination to speculate on why certain parts of the store are empty. I do my own analysis. Can this substitute for some NYTimes gumshoe going out and interviewing people and finding the story behind the story (if there is one)? Yes, if the story is obvious, which this one is.
Twitter will play a role. In alacrity in the delivery of firsthand observations. But I consider this only zeroth-order "news."
Mainstream media has demonstrated time and time again that the news to them is what they package up and put in their paper or broadcast. It's that thing that fills 15 seconds, or 3 minutes or 12 paragraphs -- depending on what media they are in.
This thing that you and I and others do where we share with others what we hear or see at Target, etc. is just blather to them. It's a bunch of narcissists navel gazing... for now. That's okay. We know what we have in Twitter (or similar). People are starting to get it. Some in the press are getting it. News is no longer a one-to-many game.
For a real time view into the minds of many, dip your toe into the waters of Twitter Search. But as far as news I think you'll find way more people following the ripples than making a splash.
Also, breaking news has always been available from the mainstream media either as standalone blurbs or in conjunction with electronic broadcast outlets, with more extensive coverage as facts become available. Twitter is just the latest channel for such information.
Twitter isn't a "newsroom" it's primarily medium for ADD afflicted souls that feel compelled to tell the world that they've just found a marvelous martini in a bar in Vail, Hollywood, or Palo Alto. And, at times, some thoughtful souls push information that does constitute basic news, although it's seldom in a format that has complete information-- which is a limitationon of its 140-word max format. Furthermore most twitter users are unaccustomed to putting basics in their first tweet. it's getting basics in a piece that's important, not just getting it "out there."
Twitter is important but the only people who will make money ion it are the souls who own its intellectual property.
Bloggers and blogs have been mined for "news," facts and opinion leadrs for a long time and will continue to serve as "resource" information for many years to come.
Oh go to a Walmart if you want to see hundreds of people shopping for durable goods. Better yet, go to a (WalMart branded_) HyperMart in the South to see consumers buying not just durables, but also livestock and live stock supplies in one shopping trip. "/you want some hay with that widescreen LCD HiDef TV, and suckling calf, mister?"
Good thoughtful post Dave,
Best wishes,
Jim Forbes/
I added your RSS feed to my custom newspaper at http://www.Libertynewsprint.com. Whatever you post it will show up in the daily edition, even ads. If you don't want it posted let me know. If you want a version you can easily read on your Kindle let me know I'll email it to you daily.
Regards,
~J at Libertynewsprint.com
"Now here's the point -- that's what network news used to simulate, by sending reporters to all the locations to find out what's going on"
This is profound. The key point is SIMULATE. This supports your point from another post about news going direct. Maybe "the news" is going out of business because a) it's not a business and b) it doesn't need to be simulated except for entertainment or political purposes.
Looking at target.com: I suspect you meant the one in Albany.
Would a conventional journalistic process have caught this?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scriptingnews/3374...
Because there are so many other things that are posted on Twitter, what lacks are proper tools to mine the news items and that is "why press people have trouble seeing that news is what's happening there". At Twielsen (http://twielsen.com) we have started to prove that with well crafted algorithms, valuable information can be mined from social media streams. The same approaches that we have used to extract TV ratings data can be used to mine other data such as news.