García Media | What do Twitter and a Karaoke bar have in common?

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May. 7th What do Twitter and a Karaoke bar have in common?

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TAKEAWAY: An Indiana University in progress prepares to examine the behavior of those non-journalists who engage in typical journalistic behavior via Twitter.

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Everybody is a journalist on Twitter. No, wait a minute now a report reminds us that, indeed, everyone is a publisher!

That was a quick promotion. Some journalists work a lifetime and never become publishers, either because they did not make the cut, or did not care to even try (I don’t blame them).

Apparently, interest is high in how Twitter affects what we in the media do, especially with breaking news, so a study is underway at Indiana University to examine the extent to which Twitter users behave like journalists, even if they aren’t journalists in the traditional professional sense.

This could be equaled to a study at a karaoke bar, to test the extent to which those courageous enough to grab the mike behave like professional singers. Judging by what one can observe at some of these karaoke sessions, with Beyoncé or Justin Bieber wannabes caressing the microphone as they mouth the words of the song staring at them from a screen, the desire is there to be like that adoring mega star.

Those who go on Twitter to “report” news? Not so sure they wish to be journalists, but it probably makes them feel good to be participating.

To me that is what this is all about: perhaps those who become “journalists, photographers, videographers” just because they happen to be in the right place at the right time in possession of a tool that allows them to record the event, simply wish to engage.

When we talk about the media quartet: phone, online, print and tablet, we must remember that the key word is “engagement”. Users wish to participate, to interact, and what better way than by becoming a part of the process.

It will be interesting to see what the Indiana University reveals. For sure, we will see greater numbers of people engaging via Twitter. Twitter is the grand central station of news: it all passes through there.

It will be up to professional journalists to guide all those “passengers” on board and on to their destinations and to further engagement, analysis, and interpretation.

I celebrate Twitter, and not just because it is here to stay. Twitter is a great way to develop an appetite for more information (the kind only professional journalists can provide). It is like a delicious tapa or appetizer that alerts you to what else is in store in the kitchen.