Embracing Twitter: All for the sake of news

Published 8:10 pm Tuesday, March 16, 2010

I would like to think there are plenty of people who care about me. I’d like to think further there are plenty of people who would be concerned with some of the things I’m doing, things like winning an award or getting injured.

But, I’d also like to think there are plenty of things I do that even my own mother could care less to know about — things like drinking a glass of orange juice in the morning, cleaning up my house or watching a TV show.

And the latter is what I typically think of when I hear about Facebook and Twitter, social networking sites that seem to be invading lots of places.

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It’s not that I don’t believe that social networking is fun, but usually the things I’ve seen people update me on are things like drinking margaritas or washing their car or ranting about a TV show.

They are things that might be somewhat interesting to the ones that love them most, but in the grand scheme of things they don’t really matter at all.

When I logged into my Facebook Tuesday afternoon, this is what I saw:

One of my friends has the “best boyfriend ever;” Another will be going to a baseball game; And another will take a nap and then work from 6 to 10 p.m.

Fascinating stuff, huh? Well don’t fall asleep just yet.

My Twitter account wasn’t much better.

One says the movie “Up in the Air” in worth seeing. Another speaks of how great techno music is. And another ate lunch at the Pig Café.

Do I just have boring friends? I wouldn’t say that’s it.

For all you Facebook and Twitter users, take a look at your “news feeds” and tell me they aren’t pretty similar to what I’ve described.

There’s occasionally something worthwhile, but in terms of things that matter, things you need to know, are they more than you can count on your hand? My guess is no.

The purpose of me saying all this isn’t to discuss my disapproval of such sites. Instead, it’s to explain my hesitation when I was approached a few months back with this: “Holli, you need to open a Twitter account.”

That wasn’t just a suggestion from a friend wanting to know about my life. It was more like an order from my boss. I wouldn’t be using Twitter to tell all my pals about the happenings of my day. Instead, I’d be keeping The Messenger’s readers informed of the news.

Even though I’m young, I’m not really one to be keen on technology. I have a Facebook account, but I don’t know how to do anything fancy with it. I can e-mail and search things on the Internet, but that exhausts my knowledge of computer use.

I could learn more, but it’s really all I’m interested in knowing.

Nonetheless, I let The Messenger create a Twitter account for me, and I even posted a few things. That was until last week when the “Twitter frenzy” returned.

We would be changing the ways we keep our readers up-to-date, and this time I’ve jumped on board.

After all, using Twitter and Facebook aren’t so uncommon for the news these days. And, as popular communication methods, this agency that is the county’s source of communication might as well join in the fun.

And so I have. And the rest of The Messenger’s staff has, too. Social networking’s not for everyone, but if it’s for you, you should “follow” us.

You can find me personally on Twitter at messenger_holli. You can find The Messenger’s site at www.twitter/troymessenger. And watch our homepage at www.troymessenger.com for our soon to arrive “twitterhub.” It will let you see all our staff members who are “tweeting” on a regular basis and let you follow them, as well.

And, you can also be our “fan” on Facebook by searching “Troy Messenger.”

Get on board with me. I promise not to tell you what I eat for breakfast.

Holli Keaton is news editor of The Messenger. She can be reached at holli.keaton@troymesssenger.com.