Who needs the 5 'O Clock News? With social media making such headways into mainstream news its easier to find all the news you want- focusing on WHAT YOU WANT- by using social media services that break and report news- all-day, not just at 5 o' clock. Twitter and now, Google+ allow you to get the news that matters to you, without all of the extra bits that you are not interested in. And it all depends on what you want- there is something for everyone...
Here are a few of my favorites-
INSPIRATION- There is no shortage of Inspirational sites out there on the Web, and that goes double for Twitter. Perhaps my favorite is @ralphmarston- whose poetic and intelligent tweets truly inspire. Another inspirational follow is @unclerush- Russell Simmons of Def Jam- great quotes- usually out of his own books or the @DalaiLama. The Alchemist author @PauloCoelho is another inspiring author using Twitter to spread his positive energy.
NEWS!- I love the fact that I can get up-to-the-minute headlines without some idiot anchor attempting to inflect feigned urgency. Now I am the idiot and I can inflect whatever I want, with whatever intonation I choose...what's not to like? And I can follow actual anchors who sometimes scoop their own program with their tweets- Anderson Cooper (@andersoncooper) is a good example, as is Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann)- who uses Twitter to shamelessly promote his show...which he admits to. @cnnbrk (CNN Breaking News) is amazing in their swift updates and their ability to share news almost immediately, and @HuffingtonPost gives the news with a touch of irony, attitude and logic, as does @BloombergNews.
CELEBRITIES- One of the first celebrities to fully embrace Twitter, Ashton Kutcher, @aplusk is a great follow- he self promotes all of his technology interests and humanitarian efforts- and he actually tweets himself. So does @TomHanks, who tweets photos from movie sets, and pictures of daily life as Tom Hanks. Another good follow is New York actor Domenick Lombardozzi @D_lombardozzi who tweets during his show Breakout Kings (@BreakoutKings) and even asked for the support of his Twitter followers to help ensure his show was renewed.
TECHNOLOGY!- There are soooooo many TechnoTweeters out there all on the search for that next "iPhone that is accidentally left in a bar by an Apple staffer" around every corner. There is no shortage of information out there about anything techno-based. @mguhlin shares educational technology ideas for all, usually taken from his blog http://www.mguhlin.org/, if you are a teacher, check it out. @TechCrunch is a great follow- they share all kinds of news about all things technology and are usually scoopers... @Applenewsjunkie (http://goo.gl/fb/LpcFQ) is obviously Apple-centric and focuses on iPad and iPhone rumors and all other things Apple- they like numbers and facts. @Mashable is Pete Cashmore's baby that shares all technology news all the time, with a bit of a focus on social media.@Mactrast is another Apple-focused Breaking News site, who have just decided to attempt to become THE premiere Apple Scoop Source. They too are becoming news makers by creating a blog of Apple op-ed pieces and reviews. I responded to a tweet for a job as a blogger from them...(I wasn't hired, obviously). Showing yet again the myriad of uses for Twitter.
And now that Google+ is finally here, I find myself using it along with Twitter. I no longer watch the news on television, and why should I? I have a custom-made, self designated selection of news that I WANT to know. For example, I heard about today's explosion in Oslo, Norway from my Twitter and Google+ feeds. I went to SPARKS in Google+ and typed in OSLO and in less than a second I was inundated with all I cared to know about the explosion and shootings- instantly. Google+ is no Facebook. Similarities, yes, but so far it seems to be more geeky than Facebook. I have interacted with people from all over the U.S. about all kinds of random things, but mainly technology and Google+. I have about 5 people that I have met face-to-face on Google+ and that's okay with me. Google+ has made celebrities out of it's staff by allowing people to add them to their circles- and these people actually respond to your questions- +Vanessa Schnieder, community manager for Google, actually responded to a question I posed to her directly.
Twitter is Facebook without all of the friends you forgot about after high school and Google+ is like a fanboy chatroom for Google-lovers. But, they allow you to interact with the news breakers and reporters like never before, allowing you to become part of the news you are reading. They allow you to interact with celebrities, quasi-celebrities, and Googlebrities making your experience exactly what you want it to be. News 2.0.
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@voodoobill on Twitter
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