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Twitter Tuesday - Twitter not launching news network, celebrities quit social media, Tim Burton crowdsources a story on Twitter
In an interview with Reuters, Biz was asked whether Twitter -- which is already trying to distance itself from the "social network" label and become more of an information source -- would consider harnessing Twitter's agility and tendency to break news stories into a Twitter news service. Biz started riffing on the idea and came up with ideas like giving news outlets their own special news firehose of tweets and letting the reporters sort it out, or putting news orgs in touch with tweeters at the scene of a breaking story, allowing them to serve as instant reporters.
Afterward, Twitter's Sean Garrett quieted the Twitter News Network rumors with a tweet saying, "Ask @biz a "can you imagine Twitter doing..." Q, & he's going to get creative and imagine. Related: No plans for a "Twitter news network".
So, although Twitter is open to collaborating with news orgs, it looks like they're not ready to make it happen yet. The whole area where Twitter and news reporting cross over is fertile ground for some new ideas and services, and I wouldn't doubt that Twitter will explore it in the future.
Lady Gaga and Other Celebrities Quit Twitter For Charity
As you may have seen on Switched, some of the most popular celebs in the world (including Lady Gaga and Justin Timberlake) are closing down all their social media profiles this Wednesday, in honor of World AIDS Day. Their profiles are gone until fans donate $1 million to Keep a Child Alive, a charity that helps HIV-and-AIDS-infected kids in Africa and India.
With millions of followers between them, the celebrities should easily be able to hit their target thanks to donations from fans who want them to come back. But I know a lot of people will actually be gleeful that the celebs are holding their accounts for ransom, too, and maybe those folks will donate as a thank you to the celebrities for leaving us temporarily alone.
Tim Burton Crowdsources a New Story, "Cadavre Exquis"
Tim Burton, known for dark fantasy movies like Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas, has started working on a new story and he's enlisted help from Twitter. The story, "Cadavre Exquis" is based on an old storytelling technique where people take turns adding a line to the story based on the last line revealed. In this case, the suggested lines are coming from Twitter and being picked -- presumably by Burton himself -- to add to the story.
On the Cadavre Exquis website, you can read the story so far, submit your own entry, or read all the submissions. You can also follow along on Twitter at @burtonstory or by tracking the #burtonstory hashtag. As of right now, the story's protagonist ("Stainboy") has encounted some mysterious goo and a robot. It looks like an interesting beginning.
A Look Inside AT&T's Enormous Twitter Tracking Operation
The closest most of us will ever come to something like this is putting our TweetDeck saved searches on a second monitor. Oh well, it's nice to dream. Oh, and don't worry: not all of the enormous screens you see in the photo above are devoted to Twitter. (via ReadWriteWeb)
That's all for this week's Twitter Tuesday. It was kind of a slow week for Twitter apps, but I'm excited for next week, because Weet's Mac desktop Twitter app is due to hit beta soon! Look for more on that in next week's column, and be sure to tip me off about any useful Twitter apps or services you spot.
