By Veronica DeSantos

Oprah has it, and so does Ellen DeGeneres. Ashton Kutcher bet CNN that he could have one million followers before they did, and guess what? He won.

So what is this new tweeting obsession that everyone seems to have? And what does it mean for the journalism industry? In an attempt to answer these questions, I have (against my own will) made my own account and researched this phenomenon called Twitter.

According to Twitter.com, Twitter is "a service for friends, family, and co-workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?"

It's easy to join (I made my own Twitter account in about two minutes) and lets us all easily track (or should I say stalk) others in 140 characters or less.

Immediately after joining Twitter, I found that not only do all the major celebrities and well known news sources have a Twitter profile, but so does our own Ohio University, WOUB News and the city of Athens. Even the White House has jumped on board the Twitter band wagon.

While I see why this could be a good way to stay updated on local and national news, I still wonder if this Twitter thing is worth giving up reading my daily Ohio University Post and if having a Twitter account is vital to my professional future.

Amanda Boyd Walters, a JSchool alumna (BSJ '94) and current Deputy Editor of the Cincinnati Magazine, said that while she does not have her own Twitter account, she does see Twitter being used in many different media professional settings.

"I see Twitter being used all over the place," Walters said. "The local newspaper's reporters are all jumping on Twitter but most of the few posts up there are referring back to the paper's web site."

She also stated that she has used Twitter occasionally to gather information on some of the topics she is going to cover in her magazine, but that she doesn't see Twitter as being valuable to her or others in the magazine industry. Although she does see it as a good way to direct people to a magazine's website, she doesn't want to use it because she doesn't want to give readers any hint about what stories her magazine will cover or who they are interviewing.

"I'm likely talking to sources months ahead of time," she said. "And I don't want there to be any hint of "oh, that's old news," once the story comes out." I have to agree with Walters at this point because being a Magazine sequence myself, I wouldn't want anyone to leak my stories online.

Another JSchool alumna, Jessica Noll (BSJ '06) said that she doesn't really see the use of Twitter.

"I actually don't use Twitter. I don't really know the point of it," Noll said.

Noll, a PR and Event Coordinator at Contech in Cincinnati, stated that Twitter seems a lot like the status update already prevalent in Facebook. "I never update my status on Facebook, so I never really thought Twitter would be beneficial to me."

David Trinko (BSJ '97), the Senior Content Editor at The Lima News disagrees with Noll. He has found a good use for it at his newspaper even if it isn't what the experts tell him to do.

"Our use of Twitter is basically what all the Twitter experts say you shouldn't do with it. We fire off headlines with it, and our followers are people who want to know what is on our website and they aren't interacting well with it. Yet for some reason we have about 125 followers on it," he said.

Trinko said that they also use Twitter to draw people to their newspaper's website and as a sort of live broadcast for events such as the Presidential Inauguration, which I even have to admit is a pretty good idea. He does have one large concern with Twitter and every other social networking site.

"The concern with using a sourcing mechanism is that it's really hard to confirm who you are talking to on the other side and that raises some serious concerns because I can hop on there and sign up as someone I'm not. That's why it's dangerous. It's hard to prove who you're talking to." 

David, I couldn't agree with you more. I mean if I add Britney Spears on my Twitter, then how am I supposed to know it's really Britney Spears posting on it? Who's to say it's not just her publicist making things up?

Trinko also said that he sees a problem with Twitter because a person can't monetize it. Like many other newspapers, Trinko is running into problems with figuring out how to earn money on web content. However, despite its down sides, Trinko still sees the usefulness of Twitter.

"It isn't that useful of a tool for older audiences but when you're trying to communicate with younger audiences, it can be extremely effective. It's a neat tool that I see a lot of possibilities for," he said.

After having a Twitter account for a few weeks, I still can't see myself using it often. Call me biased, but I just like Facebook better, and I can do the same thing there.

Although the future of Twitter is still yet to be determined, in fact its number of returning users seems to be declining (a fact that I for some reason find to be hilarious) it seems to be a "love it or hate it" social networking system. Some will claim that it connects them to sources for stories, and others chant their hate for its uselessness.

"To me, it seems like Twitter is just one more thing to keep you connected," said Walters. "Good on one hand and not good on the other... but if we're all carrying smart phones and we're on the internet all the time, constantly updating Twitter and our Facebook pages, when are we NOT working? When do we get to take a break, or stare out the window and think things over? Can we ever turn it off once it gets started?"

Whatever the future of Twitter is, one thing is sure; social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook are changing the way we look at media and the way we gather and send information.

Trinko advises that no matter what happens to Twitter, we as journalists have to keep up with the changing technology in the world. So does that mean that I should suck it up and keep my Twitter despite my utter loathing of it?

"If there is a Facebook or Twitter 5.0 that comes out tomorrow that just totally revolutionizes the world, you've gotta be able to do that," said Trinko. "The good thing with journalists is that they have always been good at adapting to things. You can't ever say 'I've everything I need to learn.' You have to be open to learn more. "

Touché Trinko. Touché.

If you are interested in more Twitter stories, check these out:

The Post Online

Twitter.com

Poynter Online