LIFE IS TWEET
26 May 2009 | Posted by admin
Latest Craze: THE WEIRD AND WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE INTERNET’S HOTTEST SITE
by Des Ekin - Sunday World (reproduced with the kind permission of the Sunday World)
Twitter sweeps the globe as politicians and pop stars realise online potential
BRIAN COWEN is doing it. Britney Spears is doing it. George Hook is doing it and Archbishop Sean Brady wants more Christians to do it.
Boxer Kenny Egan did it when he vanished off the radar and Green chairman Dan Boyle did it just before he unleashed a political bombshell last weekend.
President Obama did it to publish his election win and actor Ashton Kutcher did it to publish his wife Demi Moore’s bottom as she bent over in the bathroom.
They all tweeted.
Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of Twitter, the online ‘micro-blogging’ site that is revolutionising everything from celebrity gossip to the deadly-serious shifting of the balance of political power.
For the benefit of the few who haven’t heard of it, Twitter is a sort of live blogging service where you post updates or ‘tweets’ of up to 140 characters.
There are anywhere between 6,000 and 8,000 Irish users.
Last weekend Ireland had its first Twitter scoop when Green chairman Dan Boyle warned his regular following: “About to go to Tralee to say something controversial.”
That’s how Twittered-up journalists got an early hint that Dan was about to put the cat among the pigeons (or more aptly, the Sylvesters among the Tweetie-pies) in the Coalition, with his call for a review of the programme for government.
Satisfied
Later, a satisfied Boyle tweeted again: “Listening to my Tralee comments reverberating.”
June 5 will be Ireland’s first Twitter election, with all the political parties seeking to emulate the masterly way Barack Obama used it to help him win the Presidential election.
The Illinois senator exploited Twitter’s awesome reach to organise a big push in the final hours of election day and tweeted his followers a few hours later: “We just made history.”
BUM DEAL: Ashton Kutcher’s pic of wife Demi Moore was a big hit
Each of the main Irish parties is now posting regular tweets in a bid to marshal supporters and keep voters informed.
Even God loves Twitter, according to Cardinal Sean Brady who wants Christians to use its power to pray and organise prayer groups.
A New York church recently used Twitter to narrate the Passion of Christ in tweets.
From the sublime to the ridiculous, celebs use Twitter to document the most trivial aspects of their lives.
When actress Demi Moore bent over in her bathroom, husband Ashton Kutcher secretly snapped her pantie-clad bum and gallantly shared the pic with his 1.8 million followers.
Bitchy celebrity blogger Perez Hilton has had fierce Twitter rows with Lily Allen and last week slagged Derry’s Nadine Coyle over her accent.
“Can anyone understand one word Nadine Coyle is saying, bless her heart?” he jeered.
Father Ted writer Graham Linehan recently celebrated his 20,000th follower on Twitter.
Unreal
Sample tweet: “A friend saw Brokeback Mountain in India and they’d cut all the gay stuff out, leaving a 45 minute film about sheep farming.”
Dubliner Linehan is a Twitter obsessive. “I’m having so much fun with Twitter, it’s unreal,” he said recently. “Ask a question and people trip over themselves trying to help.”
Yet not everything in the Twitter garden is lovely.
Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus had to make a stand against Twitter cyberbullies.
There have also been dozens of Twitter hoaxes.
For instance, a fake ‘Ryanair Online’ Twitter site insulted passengers for being “stupid”, “dense” and “smelling of urine” before being rumbled.
Hoaxers on Twitter have claimed to be Brian Cowen, Miriam O’Callaghan and George Hook.
The Taoiseach has a genuine Twitter presence through Fianna Fáil and the real George Hook can be found @ghook.
Other genuine Irish Twitterers include David McWilliams, Graham Norton, Ciaran Cuffe TD and Damien Rice.
Worldwide, Twitter has already proved its value in breaking such news stories as the Hudson air crash.
It also has untapped potential-for instance, traffic updates.
On Wednesday, when flooding brought Dublin southside DART services to a standstill, passengers got their first alert on Twitter.
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FAMOUS TWITTER MOMENTS
- BARACK OBAMA wins the election and immediately tweets his followers: “All of this happened because of you.”
- NASA astronaut Mike Massimino sends the first Twitter message from space: “Enjoying the magnificent views.”
- Boxer Kenny Egan tweets to reassure fans that he’s OK, when he vanishes before a big fight.
- Lance Armstrong uses Twitter power to find his stolen bike… successfully.
- Jonathan Ross uses an agreed codeword (“salad”) to his Twitter followers during his BAFTA speech.
- Greg Rewis from Arizona makes the world’s first Twitter marriage proposal. He is accepted…by tweet.