How much twit could a Twitter twit tweet if a Twitter twit could tweet twit?Apparently, not enough.As social networking continues to remain the fastest, most efficient way to connect with friends and family, the newest craze in Internet information is Twitter. People on Twitter are given 140 characters to send a brief message, telling people anything from where they are to what they’re doing.This past February, Compete.com named Twitter the third biggest social networking site on the Internet, just after MySpace and the reigning champion, Facebook.Celebrities and politicians alike tweet what they’re doing, most notably the gaggle of congressmen tweeting during President Obama’s Feb. 25 address to the nation.This isn’t a good thing.The prompt for new users on the Web site labels the service as a micro-blog in response to a simple question: “What are you doing right now?”But if you can see beyond twit level, congratulations. You don’t buy into fads.The media, however, bit long and hard.Most notable of the media twits is CNN’s Rick Sanchez, broadcasting his hour of CNN’s “Newsroom” at 2 p.m. He dedicates his hour of news coverage to asking viewers to respond to stories he reports through Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.CNN’s own breaking news Twitter was recently put to the test of gaining one million followers — those who follow the tweets of others — against the eventual Twitter champion, none other than Ashton Kutcher.When Kutcher reached one million followers, he went on Larry King — who delivered some trash talk during the competition — and, along with Sean “Insert New Nickname Here” Combs and Jimmy Fallon, talked about how Twitter has inspired a new generation of user-updated media.When the Mumbai terrorist attacks occurred in India last year, it was Twitter leading the way, delivering information about the attacks to those who couldn’t rely on traditional forms of media for access.But interactive reporting has its pitfalls.This weekend, the world learned of a possible pandemic, in the form of a new case of swine flu. Twitter became flooded with information requests about the subject, comprising 2 percent of all tweets this past Monday.The controversy spawned a debate on how health information is obtained and disseminated, as the PC World all of a sudden became at odds with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the leading authority in tracking and accessing the threat of swine flu.”This is a good example of why [Twitter is] headed in that wrong direction,” Brendon Slattery, contributing writer for PC World, said. “It’s just propagating fear amongst people as opposed to seeking actual solutions or key information.”The CDC countered by praising Twitter’s online community for discussing the subject, meaning people held a vested interest in learning more information on the subject. The Center still advocates seeking help from established medical institutions for the most up-to-date and accurate information.As the world becomes increasingly interactive, it’s tough to assess the difference between needless hype and genuine information. For all of the hype about swine flu, an estimated 36,000 people die from flu-related symptoms every year in the U.S.”Bad news always travels faster than good news,” said Al Tompkins, who teaches broadcast and online news at the Poynter Institute.What happened to the journalists in this country? Is the advent of social networking responsible for the decline and fall of credibility in journalism?Are we all journalists now?If so, I’ll call us exactly as I see us:A nation of twits.
Eric Freeman, Jr. is a 22-year-old political science junior from New Orleans.
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