As the popularity of the microblogging site turned household word continues to grow, so does it’s mention in the news media. Performing a basic search in Google results in an explosion of news stories, articles and blog posts about the social networking phenomenon. Most are generic in nature and relate to the service’s massive growth, such as the buzz surrounding the possibility of various internet giants being poised or in talks to buy Twitter, along with many op-ed articles either giving the birdie a whole hearted thumbs up or just giving the bird in general and wishing the Twitterverse would go find a new galaxy somewhere. Twitter, love it or hate it, but either way it’s definitely aflutter within recent media reporting.
Just like with every hugely popular trend, it’s success comes with the good, the bad, and the strange! I wish to share with my readers a few of the more bizarre and outright weird news stories I’ve come across. The moral of all the oddball stories below? Twitter doesn’t just mimic real life. In it’s own unique micro way it provides a true glimpse into the human experience. A “tweet” can be so spontaneous it appears to often capture a very accurate depiction of what each user is truly like. It’s my belief that sometimes a simple 140 characters or less can tell more about a person’s character than a full blog, bio, interview and so on. Why? Because it’s so raw and often “off the top of our heads”. However, with the rawness comes the downright strange, just .. like … REAL life. Perhaps we really are what we tweet.
Metro Pastor Says Twitter Post Led to Hate Crime
One of Pastor Taylor’s Twitter posts: “Crowley invokes the power of the badge on private property proved to be owned by black professor i guess black men cant holler on they land”
Watch what you Tweet – Twitter could get you sued
Watch what you Tweet – Twitter could get you sued. One Chicago renter is find this out the hard way. Reportedly on May 12th Amanda Bonnen mentioned her “moldy apartment” to her 20 followers and now her property manager is taking her to court.
Woman Chronicles Bank Heist on Twitter
“My bank was just held up — with me in it. HSBC 34 and 8,” the 26-year-old Web producer tweeted her 1,900 or so followers just after 9 a.m. under her Twitter name, TravelingAnna, referring to 34th Street and 8th Avenue in Manhattan. “Also my whole trackball is GONE!!! I’m locked in the bank still.”
Lindsay Lohan Claims Her Twitter Account Was Hacked
Note: While I certainly don’t know Lindsay personally, I tend to like what I do know of her as a person. She’s battled her own demons very publicly and suffered her own family dramas with the whole world watching and snapping photos. Despite all this, she is one of those celebs who readily communicates with fans, as well as her own friends and loved ones via Twitter, @sevinnyne6126. I obviously have no idea if this news story is true, but even if it is, there’s not a person alive who’s not been guilty of speaking our minds when we perhaps should have thought better of it. The only difference here is Celebrity+Twitter= News.
Los Angeles earthquake chokes phone calls, not Twitter
I am totally serious. My Ob/Gyn was IN my vagina and an earthquake started rattling the room! @MissRFTC.
Man jogs into tree while using Twitter
While this story may be humorous to read and immediately conjures up a funny visual, it also brings to mind the message that it’s not safe to perform tasks like this such as texting, talking on a cellphone or tweeting while our attention needs to be focused on what we’re doing. Tweet safely!
Pirate Bay Founders Get Served Through Twitter
There are no public mentions of the summoning in any of the public profiles of the Pirate Bay Founders so we assume that they did so via direct messages. Meanwhile, BREIN’s official site seems to be suffering from a DDoS attack, but this is of course totally unrelated to the announcement of the anti-piracy outfit. – Source
Twitter cat has 500,000 fans
A cat named Socks is fast becoming the next big thing on Twitter. @sockington
British royal family turns to Twitter
News about the British royal family is now available through the social networking service Twitter, Buckingham Palace announced.
Perez Hilton Asks Twitter Followers to Call Police on Will.i.am
Note: I have to say that I’m on Team Perez here. Whether I always agree with the smarty pants blogger or not, he has the legal right to not get punched in the head. Speaking our minds is not against the law, violence is. After viewing the video “testimonies” from both parties, I believe that no matter what Perez said, violence was not the answer. I do think Perez should be able to better “take it” if he can dish it out as he does on his world famous blog. However, the answer here for will.i.am and his people would’ve simply been to walk away. (Read John Mayer’s war of words with Perez on Twitter over the incident).
Tweet lands Twitter user in jail
A computer geek in Guatemala has become one of the first in the world to be arrested for Twittering. Jean Anleu was so tired with corruption in his country that he decided to vent his feeling with a 96-character message on the social-networking site. The message, or tweet, has now earned him a potential five-year prison sentence.
Trent Reznor Ends Twitter Legacy By Deleting Account
Rock Daily was saddened to learn this weekend that Nine Inch Nails‘ Trent Reznor deleted his Twitter account, officially ending his tenure on the 140-character social network.
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Tags: Twitter
July 31st, 2009 at 8:34 am
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