I have come to my own conclusion on how to use Twitter. My last blog was more of a thought process on whether Twitter is a social network or a new journalism outlet. Obviously, it is both but for me, as a journalist, Twitter is a media outlet.
When opening a Twitter account and choosing who to follow, I picked Huffington post and Arianna Huffington. Logging on just now, I saw live Twitter updates that started less than hour ago about a shooting at Fort Hood in Texas that killed 11 people and wounded 31 others. Receiving information this quickly is one of the new positive aspects of online and especially Twitter.
It goes back to what Huffington said at her Q&A here at Ithaca College on Tuesday. I twittered about the event, including her being an hour and 20 minutes late and the few minutes I was able to stay while she answered questions. While I was still there Huffington said that journalists can follow a story now with online instead of just covering it once and throwing the story aside.
The Fort Hood shooting is an example of just that. Huffington Post is covering the incident with Twitter updates and stories on the website. To me, this is what Twitter is meant to be for journalists. It is an important, immediate news source that gives ongoing coverage of a story.
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