Tonight is the start of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. While the snow is still waiting to fall there (maybe DC stole it all), people have already begun talking about what events they were looking forward to seeing on Twitter.
In fact, before I saw it on any news channel on television, I saw it on Twitter that Nodar Kumaritashvili, a luge contestant from Georgia, died from a horrific accident during the practice session. Unfortunately, the most recent news out of Vancouver is a tragedy, but it was interesting to see how many people around the world were all focusing on one event.
It will be something to note during the entire Olympics how people use Tiwtter to communicate, whether they are contestants, fans, or media. Twitter will be heavily used to communicate about events and winners.
In the past, I would pay attention to fewer events because I could only watch so much television. But now with things like Twitter, I will be able to follow more than one event at a time, and probably be able to find a channel or link from other Tweeters that has something I'm interesting in watching.
I definitely look forward to the communication I will have with people from all over the world about the hockey and curling tournaments.
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With the Snowpocolypse of 2010 my views on the usefulness of Twitter really changed. Prior I thought Twitter was pointless but now I see it as a real way to get news out there. With limited characters journalists cannot write an entire article but when breaking news occurs it gets out there. In some cases school cancellations were reported on Twitter before A.U. had made the official announcement. And in the tragic case of Nodar Kumaritashvili you saw it on twitter before you read it in the newspaper or saw it on TV. While I am beginning to see the benefits of Twitter as a news source I think for personal use Twitter's not my thing.
ReplyDeleteTwitter has also been a huge benefit for me during these Olympic games. On friday I was able to find a live streaming feed of the opening ceremony to watch on my computer which was really helpful since I don't have a television in my room down here. Also, I first heard about the tragedy concerning Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili through Twitter as well. Though I have a Twitter account I don't use it all that often, but this past week I have found that I have been on it at least once everyday. Like Lauren said, it announced school cancellations early and is a great resource to use to find out what is happening all around the world.
ReplyDeleteI know that for these Olympic games, people are complaining that NBC has cut back coverage for the events. Social media sites like Twitter definitely have the capability to make up for the lack of coverage. The people attending the games can all become citizen journalists, sharing what is going on at the games with their friends and followers through a personalized live feed.
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