The Brave New World of Twitter
23. Sep, 2008 
22 Comments
A quick story, adding to the general mythos of when social media works (or how).
You might have heard that a blogger got a writing gig last week from something she wrote on Twitter. The blogger was Pam from Nerd’s Eye View (great site, check it out) and she wrote:
“Freelance technical writing pays my bills. In between gigs, I submit stories to travel, culture and outdoors publications in hopes that one day, Conde Nast will call.”
And then they did. With a writing gig.
My own brush with twitter-luck came yesterday, when I got an email from the LA Times Travel Editor, referring to a tweet he had seen about my site–not even one I wrote. Later that morning, I got a pingback telling me that travel.LATimes.com wrote about my American Airlines Can Bite Me Contest. All from a little tweet.
Perhaps these kind of connections are why more people are jumping on board. I came across this article today on TheHill.com where they claim:
“Even members of Congress have gotten into the act — not only do they maintain personal blogs, they are Twittering from the House floor to engage with their constituents.”
Even companies like Apple and Jet Blue are using it to expand their brand.
So if Big Business, Politicians, LA Times and Conde Nast (and more) are using twitter, does that mean it’s officially “arrived”? Will it become as pervasive as email? Or is this just another social device that will go the way of the Chat Room?
By the way, you can find me at twitter.com/almostfearless. And if you want to enter the contest, you have to be a subscriber first (so subscribe via RSS or Email).
that is totally awesome…..maybe i will have to join the herd…
Nomadic Matts last blog post..The Weekly Photo: Barcelona
Thats great news! I’m actually surprised American Airlines hasn’t contacted you yet with a ton of free miles for this!
As for joining twitter, when the dust settles. I can barely keep up with RSS feeds!
Nomadic Matt isn’t Twittering? That’s a tragedy.
jamies last blog post..New Series! Sidetracked
I gotta gets me one a them “wearing my twitter shirt” shirts!
Digging, stumbling, twittering, … – what next in this mad world.
Mark Hs last blog post..Reindeer Paté, Cloudberry Pie and Sweat (Kuopio, Finland)
Pam’s great news has got us all re-thinking Twitter. And I’m still thinking. I just started blogging, stumbling, facebooking and linkedinning like a maniac. Will I have time for a life offline?
Glad you find you on Twitter, Christine. Am following you! (Oooh. Sounds very Big Brother…)
That is so amazing! Congratulations! When are the contest details coming out? The suspense is killing me! Have you noticed a spike in subscribers?
NewWrldYankees last blog post..Top 5 Cheap Airline Ticket Finder Series #3 – Airline Consolidator
You go, girl! Your AA post was the bees’ knees, and the accompanying photo was priceless. Shades of Peter Finch in NETWORK – “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!”
Toddie Downss last blog post..Congrats, Emmy Writing Winners!
That’s amazing, congrats! I just started following you!
Susan F.s last blog post..why not get into rugby this weekend?
I’m a huge fan of Twitter. I’m still figuring out how to make the most of it, though.
Daniels last blog post..Teaching troubles
Jamie…..i don’t twitter. its on the long long long long list of things i should do….
Nomadic Matts last blog post..Travel Photography: Connecting with People
I never even heard of Twitter until 10 days ago when I attended the BlogWorld08 conference. I’ve been in the fog (in Monterey).
There wasn’t any incentive for me to upgrade my five year old phone and phone plan until I saw how Twitter brings bloggers together in a social network.
I’ll be getting a new phone plan this week.
Ric Garridos last blog post..Hilton Rome Cavalieri Rebranded as Waldorf=Astoria Collection
Twitter has been a lot of fun to use. I’ve found some interesting people on there, and in turn it’s led people to our site.
Sometimes I find it hard to think of something relevant to write about, but that’s my problem, not twitter’s.
Austins last blog post..Off The Beaten Path: Irish Road Bowling
Twitter is an excellent tool!! It has a lot of possibilities. One thing I do with it (which is a lot less commmon) is to use it as a means of practising languages. In the same idea as on my video blog, almost every tweet I do in English, I’ll translate the same thing to Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Esperanto and of course Irish Gaelic. This forces me to think regularly in these languages and imagine or look for ways to translate things I say in normal conversations.
Benny Lewiss last blog post..How to take as much as you like in your hand luggage
Wearing my Twitter shirt too
It is Very cool this happened.
I see these relationships birthed all the time.
[Seriously, Twitter is Not big brother.
You don't have to say a word. No one is forcing you.]
Be your authentic self. In time, the people who should follow you will.
Twittr was originally meant to be a few friends following a few tweets
per day by a few other friends.
But it was always a great idea because it’s…
What an excellent blog, I’ve added your feed to my RSS reader.