Re-tweeting history: CNET UK on Twitter
For me, recent events like the inauguration have really shifted Twitter from entertaining waste of time to genuinely important news and cultural resource
This week saw history made with the inauguration of Barack Obama as US president. As a tech journalist, I was interested to see how people used a staggering range of technology to follow goings-on as they unfolded, and afterwards. As a devoted Twitter fan, I enjoyed the big day through the 140-character thoughts and impressions of millions of people.
I compiled my favourites, both tech-slanted and just plain witty or interesting, in Re-tweeting Obama: Twitter and the presidential inauguration online. Although I did have to leave out one British comics writer's funny but not-terribly-sensitive comparison of Dick Cheney in a wheelchair to a certain Doctor Who villain...
For me, recent events like this have really shifted Twitter from entertaining waste of time to genuinely important news and cultural resource. I followed the New York plane crash entirely on Twitter, from horrific breaking news to virtual sigh of relief to hilarious meme, all in the time it takes an old-media reporter to find a pencil. You know how history documentaries piece together past cultures from diaries and letters? Time Team 2109 will have Twitter. Make of that what you will...
The Crave round-up of great tweets was something of an experiment for CNET UK, which tweets as cnetuk. All our stories are at your fingertips, and we're also planning to increase the personal touch to let you know what your intrepid Cravers are up to. Why not follow us, and say hello? Who knows -- maybe next time we'll be re-tweeting you!