Here comes some news about news sources and how they are related to the trendiest news source, Twitter. According to an article published by Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, “Twitter
appears at this point to play a relatively small role in sharing of links to news sources.”
I think Twitter in and of itself has been the link to certain breaking news stories, not a “forwarding service” for online news associated with traditional brands or even popular online outlets like the Huffington Post.
Here are some thoughts when you look at the mix of media outlets:
- Hello, Twitter is a News Brand: Sure, any traditional news outlets can put links to their stories on Twitter with the hopes that they’ll get some new readers. However, if I care about what the Drudge Report says or The Smoking Gun, I’ll be checking out their breaking news directly. So, I think the numbers in the Pew Center’s article don’t show anything beyond the obvious.
- Size Matters: The Pew Report states, “Twitter’s user base is far smaller than such sources as Google or Facebook.” In my mind, this point of their research is a non-starter. Twitter has 175 million accounts, Facebook has 600 million. And when did you see the founder of Twitter on the cover of Time magazine? Besides, that’s what Google does; it is a search engine to point people to the news that they are searching for. Where’s the exciting research here, Mr. Pew?
- The Core of Apples and Oranges Comparison: Or better yet, comparing beverages like Coca Cola with Fuel. One is a traditional drink that continues to work its way through new marketing channels, the other is a newer kid on the block that wants to break in. By the way, the Twitter account for Fuel only has 228 followers and, as of my post, has not posted a Tweet since last November (maybe they need to take their own medicine and get a jolt to update their Twitter account).
Look, social media is still the Wild West. If you don’t believe me, check out http://www.namechk.com/ to see the 159 places where you can register your user name besides LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
