I’d love to write one of Chris Brogan‘s seamless “workflow” vision-of-the-future posts on this but I’m too fascinated and jumbled by the variety of stuff pouring in through Twitter tonight, so you’re gonna get this Laura-style musing on the evolution of news:
Twitter on CNN
CNN’s Rick Sanchez (@ricksanchezcnn) started using Twitter this week to engage viewers and conversation around his live nightly newscasts. While conducting guest participants, reports and headlines, he also refers to his Twitter stream and displays @reply tweets directed to him. It’s fun. I wonder how puzzled viewers are. I’ll write about this again. Now, onto the stories he covered…
UPDATE: (courtesy of Mark Mayhew on Twitter) Rick Sanchez began using Twitter on his newscasts about 3 weeks ago.
Gustav
You can actually watch as remarks about Gustav pour through Twitter. People are mobilizing action on social media networks to stay on top of the situation as it unfolds. It’s a live network of energy and compassion and people asking “how can I help?” Ideas are being shared and Twitter’s “telegraphs” repeating these signals are spreading them swiftly.
- NPR’s Andy Carvin set up a site (on Ning) for collaboration and resources
- @gustavalerts “Government Alerts about Hurricane Gustav” is feeding information via Twitter
- Christopher Carfi just linked to this mobile resource guide because, let’s face it, people who need resources in this storm will not be sitting at their computers.
- Others have posted storm preparedness links
RNC Police Raids
Word about the arrests leading up to the RNC (NYT link) is also spreading fast via Twitter, including links to coverage by independent and citizen journalists. I was troubled by CNN’s line “the authorities see a danger in underestimating” the threat of protesters. Since when is it ok to arrest before the law is broken?
USAToday Weather Guys
We talk – a LOT – about the weather on Twitter, so I pointed out how smart the USA Today Weather Guys are to engage here. They also “got it right” by including their Twitter content on their blog, making it easy to confirm the legitimacy.
Obviously this red-hot moment is a very smart time to be providing useful weather content on Twitter, so, best of luck guys. Hope you rock it.
MTV
In other news, @MTV looks like just another brandjacking. Tonight they misposted the Michael Moore wants Gustav to kill people Fox News link except they mistakenly wrote “Obama.” (Later deleted and reposted as “Michael Moore.”)
Taking this forward
I imagine what Ray Nagin’s Twitter stream would read like right now, or Harry Connick Jr.’s, or Michael Moore’s? Aren’t you curious where their heads are at? What Sara Palin was thinking about and focusing on as her whirlwind journey kicked up… Imagine.
Oh and PS:
Henry Rollins is on Twitter. This is not relevant. This is not news. It’s just cool. And surely some of you didn’t know yet. And it’s really him.
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