Why President Obama needs to tweet more often

Oh lord, what is the world coming to:

In his first 100 days in office, Barack Obama has updated his Twitter account only twice. I voted for the guy, but I can’t stand by while President 2.0 throws away the
online cred he built during last year’s campaign.

Two weeks ago, the daytime-TV host Oprah Winfrey and the second-tier celebrity Ashton Kutcher drew national attention — Ms. Winfrey for using Twitter on her show, Mr. Kutcher for collecting a million followers at twitter.com. No one seems to have noticed the president has racked up a million followers without even trying. Imagine if he posted something!

The standard excuse made by Obama apologists — “he’s too busy” — is at best naïve. More often, it’s dishonest. The president records a five-minute video every week. Anyone who’s done video knows a five-minute clip takes a lot more than five minutes of preparation, shooting, and reshooting. A few days ago, Oprah figured out Twitter live on camera in less time than it takes Mr. Obama to explain PAYGO in this week’s address.

Why Twitter is more valuable than Facebook

An interesting story in the New York Times today on the value of twitter: 

“Twitter lets people know what’s going on about things they care about instantly, as it happens,” said Evan Williams, Twitter’s chief executive and co-founder. “In the best cases, Twitter makes people smarter and faster and more efficient.”

Mr. Williams, along with the other founders, Biz Stone and Jack Dorsey, first envisioned Twitter as an easy way to stay in touch with people you already know.

In 2006, when Twitter was just starting, the three men felt a small earthquake in San Francisco. They each reached for their phones to twitter about it and discovered tweets from others in the city. At that moment, it dawned on them that Twitter might be most useful for something else — a frontline news report, not just for friends, but for anyone reading.

Indeed, the news-gathering promise of Twitter was most evident during the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last November and when a jetliner landed in the Hudson River in January. People were twittering from the scenes before reporters arrived.

How To Twitter

A nice little story in the WSJ today about how to twitter. I must say I'm a believer, much more than any other internet phenomenon of past years like Youtube, Facebook and the such. The reason? Well the article spells it out:

But I have to admit I didn't understand the appeal of Twitter when I joined, at the prodding of friends, in November. One answer that explains its popularity: It's not about chatting with your friends -- it's about promoting yourself.

Sure it's narcissistic as hell. But there are few things at good marketing than twitter. Twitter provides an easy way to promote whatever it is you do, whether it's music, write, design websites or anything else. Unlike Facebook, which is mostly to maintain acquaintances, twitter has real value. And it's free.

The uses of twitter

I was skeptical about the uses of twitter for a long time, even after I joined.

But I am starting to see the value in it all. For example the New York MTA is on twitter and gives updates on train delays and changes. This is very useful for like a New Yorker like me. Also, news organizations like the New York Times use twitter to give news updates. Good stuff.

(BTW, if you want to follow me on twitter, here is my page.)