By Cynthia Nichols, Oklahoma State University & Charles W. Meadows, The University of Alabama
From Taylor Swift, to former Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin, Twitter is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing social media networks among celebrities. Although social media outlets such as Myspace, and Facebook have been around for years, Twitter has only recently emerged into mainstream popularity, and everyone—from grandmothers, to fashion designers, to scholars, to celebrities—is jumping on board. Since its start in 2006, Twitter has grown rapidly to become the most popular micro-blogging Web site online. In fact, according to Nielsen, it grew a staggering 1,382% from February 2008 to February 2009, and has more than 7 million unique visitors every month [1]. However, this rapid growth leaves many people wondering: “What is Twitter?” and “Why should I use it?”
To clarify, Twitter is a micro-blogging service that allows users to send short text messages, otherwise known as “tweets,” to their Twitter page. Although there is a dizzying array of multiple-platforms available to support the service (mobile phones, computers, etc.), the restrictive 140-character length of the tweet minimizes the hassle and involvement for users. The simplicity of Twitter—which is one of its greatest strengths—keeps friends, families, and colleagues up-to-date on “What’s happening?” In essence, Twitter allows you to send a text message to the world. [Read more...]
By Dr. Jane Marcellus, Associate Professor
Social Media and Copy Editing
By Yanick Rice Lamb, Howard University, Associate Professor/Sequence Coordinator, @yrlamb
Students use social media in their daily lives, but they don’t always think about using those skills as journalists. We are revamping how we teach Copy Editing to place a greater emphasis on Interactive Editing for newspapers, magazines and the Internet in print, on the Internet and on mobile devices. Social media is also a key part of the curriculum. However, we stress the importance of solid reporting, sound editing and high journalistic standards so that students don’t focus on speed, bells and whistles at the expense of quality.
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