Tag Archives: Twitter

The Library of Congress Has Your Tweets

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The U.S. Library of Congress is the proud owner of such historically significant pieces as the draft of the Declaration of Independence and one of the only three perfect vellum copies of the Gutenberg Bible. And as of last week, it can add to its impressive collection an archive of all of the tweets sent out on Twitter since the social media site began in March 2006. That’s approximately 50 million tweets.

The list includes famous highlights, such as when Barack Obama announced he had won the presidency:

@Barack Obama: We just made history. All of this happened because you gave your time, talent and passion. All of this happened because of you. Thanks (11:34 AM Nov 5th, 2008 via web)

But it also includes not famous (and some would say, not important) tweets, such as when people tweet what they are having for lunch that day.

Of course, you could argue that the tweets about meals are just as important as the tweets about winning the U.S. presidential elections. After all, won’t those messages be of use to cultural anthropologists who want to learn about the eating patterns of early 21st Century human beings?

Are you among the Twitter users whose messages will now be archived by the Library of Congress?

Are Social Networkers in Fact “Disconnected”?

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The Internet and social networking were supposed to bring people together. But could it be that it “disconnects” them in certain ways?

That is what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested January 21 when answering questions after her major foreign policy speech on Internet freedom.

Near the end of her appearance at the Newseum, the secretary took a question about Muslim youth being disaffected from their own governments and that of the United States. In her answer, Clinton suggested that youth the world over suffer from this “disconnect.” The reason: the Internet!

Here’s what she said: “Young people across the world are increasingly disconnected from authority, from government, from all kinds of institutions that have been historically the foundations of society, because they are so interconnected through the Internet….”

She noted that some young people spend more time on the Internet than with their families, and she added that this phenomenon was “something my generation can’t really understand.”

Well, I’m part of Clinton’s generation, and her comment was a real shocker to me! Why? Because, as a heavy user of the Internet, I often feel “disconnected,” too. In my case the disconnect is with what I see as a somewhat befuddling world of social networking.

Clearly there is a generation gap at work here, and Clinton addressed that: “When you think about the power of this information connection to young people, I don’t think it should cause panic in people my age…. We ought to figure out how to better utilize it.”

Here at America.gov, we’ve been working hard at reaching young people via Twitter, Facebook and blogs like this one. How effective do you think these efforts are? What do you think is the best way for government to meet the information needs of and connect with young people?

#democracyis Twitter Contest

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My friends at the Democracy Video Challenge want you to tell the world what democracy is – by tweeting it.

The rules are simple. Follow @demvidchallenge and tweet a statement using the hashtag #democracyis. The person with the most retweets wins a digital video camera.

What is democracy? Basing it off of some of my favorite previous blog entries, I could tweet “#democracyis persuading your friends to supply you with chocolate.” Or I could say “#democracyis the freedom to not exercise your right to vote.” So many options, but alas, I don’t think I am eligible to participate since my employer is one of the contest’s sponsors.

The contest continues through January 21. Go to twitter.com/demvidchallenge and get started!

Twitter Sources

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Twitter often gets a bad rap. Who cares what I ate for dinner, described in 140 characters or less?

As a writer, I find Twitter to be a wonderful resource for information. Many advocacy groups use Twitter to highlight their work. I can log into my account and before me lays a list of stories to explore.
Here are a few of my favorite democracy-themed Twitter feeds. Feel free to share yours as well.

http://twitter.com/takingitglobal
Taking IT Global uses social media tools to empower young people.

http://twitter.com/DemocracyIntl
Provides an inside look at election monitoring in Afghanistan.

http://twitter.com/DigiActive
A group of so-called “digital activists.”

http://twitter.com/tweetcongress
Tracks members of U.S. Congress using Twitter.

http://twitter.com/IRIglobal
The International Republican Institute also has a lot of experience with election monitoring.

http://twitter.com/DowningStreet and http://twitter.com/WhiteHouse
For those interested in government twitterers, here are twitter feeds from the Prime Minister of England and the White House.

Oh, and by the way, you can follow me on Twitter too. http://twitter.com/MAusteinBrooks

Does All the News Give Print a Fit?

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The recent Red Line accident on the Washington subway system, the Metro, has me thinking about how I get news these days. Even though I was in the Metro system at the time of the crash and heard announcements about a train with “mechanical difficulties,” I did not realize anything serious had happened until I got home and turned on my computer. There I saw messages from friends on Facebook expressing relief that they had not been in the accident and asking about the status of others who use the subway.

I quickly logged on Twitter, where I found tweets (140-character text messages) from the Washington Post containing links to stories, blogs and photos on its Web site, as well as a video feed from local broadcast station Channel 8. The Washington Post also used Twitter as a means of gathering information, asking anyone who had been in or knew someone in the crash to contact the newspaper and/or send photos. I also received tweets from news organizations outside the Washington area, such as the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Miami Herald, as well as messages from individual journalists. I found it exciting to access all this news “in real time.”

About an hour after I got on the computer, my husband arrived home and turned on the television to watch the news of the accident. I joined him, but also continued monitoring my machine. I found it amusing that I often would receive an update via Twitter just as the broadcaster would provide the same information. The next morning, I again logged on to my Twitter and Facebook accounts to get updates on the situation, then listened to the radio during my short drive to the subway.

As Michael and Tanya have asked, should this reliance on sources other than print media cause worry? At no time did I depend on a physical newspaper for news, but I did monitor many different news channels for information. Are all these types of media killing off news organizations, or are they a sign of their adaptation?

Iran and the U.S.

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While the post-election situation in Iran is still making news all over the world, it was the build-up to the Iranian elections that first caught my attention.  I couldn’t help but notice that some of the details coming out about the issues and the voters seemed very familiar.

I listened as Iranians interviewed by U.S. radio stations said they were looking for change.  Some said they felt their country’s reputation had been damaged and that world opinion had turned against them.  They wanted this trend to stop.  There was talk across numerous media outlets of the importance of the youth vote, as well as talk of the critical role of women on election day. 

Aren’t these some of the same things I heard during elections in my own country?  During the U.S. elections, a lot of Americans were also calling for change.  Many felt that their country’s reputation in the world had also been damaged.  Just as Iranian youth were getting attention as a powerful voting bloc, American youth proved to be a strong organizing and voting force for then-candidate Obama.  And just as the media speculated on the importance of female voters in Iran, so too did it speculate on the importance of female voters in the U.S.

What’s more, social media – most notably blogs and Twitter – are playing an important role in the Iranian election aftermath, much as they were a critical organizing tool for the Obama and McCain campaigns.  We’ve even seen the important role social media played in the recent Indian elections as well. 

Am I the only one who noticed these similarities between the elections of these two countries?  Some of the same issues, the same speculations, the same commentaries, the same public sentiment and the same voting blocs existed for both.

“This is not a one-time event”

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As President Obama met with King Abdullah in Saudi Arabia today, White House Press Spokesman Robert Gibbs spoke of the U.S. government’s efforts to make sure people worldwide learn of the president’s upcoming speech in Egypt.

“There’s a tremendous amount of outreach,” as the White House and America.gov make efforts to broadcast the speech online and via text message. Both organizations plan to discuss the speech’s importance on social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter.

“I think obviously the speech of tomorrow is important, but it’s also important to realize that this is one of many events in a continuing dialogue that the president believes not only should happen, but in all honesty, must happen to continue to make progress. … it is part of that continued dialogue that has to take place,” Gibbs said.

While this is a “high profile” event, Gibbs noted, it is “not a one-time event.” These outreach initiatives are an ongoing effort to connect with international audiences.

Continuing the discussion

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In the year and a half that this blog has been online (also previously named Campaign Trail Talk and First 100 Days) I have learned a lot from all of the readers who share their thoughts in the comments section of each and every blog entry. But there are many other great ways for us to continue this discussion about President Obama and his initiatives.

Feel free to reach out and talk to me on Twitter and Facebook! You’re always welcome to share your thoughts!

2009 Indian Elections: The Blogosphere Reacts

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With national elections in the world’s most populous democracy, India, coming to an end earlier than had been predicted, the blogosphere is buzzing with analysis of the results.

Gaurav Mishra at Global Voices lists election reactions and observations that Indian voters posted on Twitter.

Kanishk Tharoor at OpenIndia talks about how the Indian media failed to correctly predict the election results.

Dr. Karan Thakur at India Times draws parallels between the 2009 Indian elections and the 2008 American elections.

At indianelections.blogadda.com you can see how social media tools such as YouTube and Flickr were used to discuss and document the 2009 Indian Elections.

What are your thoughts on the 2009 Indian elections?

White House back on Twitter

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During his presidential campaign, Barack Obama had a popularly followed Twitter feed. After a hiatus, his administration is back on Twitter, with a White House Twitter feed that is quickly gaining followers – more than 55,000 as of May 11. Follow it and you too can get the latest information on the president’s activities.

Other U.S. government agencies got an unexpected boost from the White House’s decision. When the White House decided to follow other government agencies’ twitter feeds, these government sites like America.gov noticed their Twitter feeds suddenly gained more followers as well.

By the way, Obama Today has a Twitter feed. Sign up and get the latest information on the Obama administration and other fun information!