Exploring the Media's Twitter Obsession

Why are journalists falling all over themselves trying to figure out Twitter? Because the social network is growing at epic pace, from alerting the world to breaking news to providing sources and a media audience.

In a MediaShift story, journalist Alana Taylor, a student at New York University, reports on a recent panel discussion, "Journalists and Social Media: Sources, Skills, and the Writer." MediaBistro organized the event. She writes:

"Journalists are obsessed with Twitter. Obsessed. They use it, talk about it, analyze it, deconstruct it, reconstruct it, love it, hate it, capitalize on it, become experts on it, monetize it, argue about it, and become micro-famous on it. They are mesmerized with what it is and they are as giddy as Tom Cruise on Oprah just thinking about what it could be."

She goes on to share what panelists had to say about Twitter as a reporting tool and its place in the evolving media.

Attached to her story is this MediaBistro video featuring the panelists discussing social networking and the future of journalism.

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