Tweets for Life
Not long ago a friend and I were discussing the value of social network applications like Facebook, Myspace, Twitter etc. I adamantly insisted they were wastes of time; he suggested that while perhaps we didn’t see any value in them many others (usually “younger” others) were tweeting and posting their hearts out – that these are the ways they communicate with their friends. I’ve tried them, I see very limited communications value here in nurturing a friendship, but that’s not what this post is about. Let me just say that Twitter proved an invaluable resource this weekend. On a hunch, I resurrected my hibernated Twitter account late last week and then began to check for other Catholics who were on Twitter. Quickly I found several I recognized and a few I immediately elected to “follow”. (If Twitter, tweeting, and following are unfamiliar to you – visit Twitter or Google Twitter).
On Sunday, before I left for Mass I logged on and discovered quite a bit of Twitter activity going on and very quickly garnered a few more Tweeters to follow. My interest was in what was happening at Notre Dame and among the tweeters I was following were several who were in attendance at the campus or with pro-life groups on or around the campus including Jill Stanek (a pro-life activist and blogger) and John Norton (an editor for Our Sunday Visitor). They, among others, were providing personal communications about things that were happening within their view and several other Twitter users were also providing info and links. In the end, I discovered that Twitter, as silly and frivilous as it had first seemed was actually an excellent communications tool. With it I had a multidimensional view of the happenings at ND within the commencement area, and outside among the “ND Response groups and the pro-life protest groups. Along with the information from the people I was following I also saw what were called “Retweets” – others who might have been following someone I was not following would pass those tweets on to their own group. By the time it was done I had garnered quite a list of tweeters and bloggers. I’ve definitely changed my outlook and have resolved to continue monitoring Twitter and Facebook after all.
For your information here are the Twitter users I connected with as a result of this weekend’s Notre Dame gaggle, all of whom provided some measure of reporting and personal experiences or passed them on from others. The links are to their Twitter page – there will be a link to their blog (if one exists and they’ve provided it)
It would be interesting to know how many pro-Obama demonstrators were arrested for “trespassing” in South Bend over the weekend. One blogger (I’ve lost the link to the blog) recounted how she and a friend got stuck waiting for Obama’s motorcade (departing) to pass. They parked, got out of their car with their pro-life signs and were promptly told to stay 50 feet back from the sidewalk. When the friend asked why the others (the pro-Obama folks carrying pro-Obama signs) were *NOT* required to move back she was arrested for being “belligerant”. If I can find the blog I’ll update this post with the link. Sorry.