As noted in my previous post, I’m still inundated by the sheer volume of tweets at 79 followers and 73 people I stalk! Missing more than a few hours of check time can cause a huge backlog.
When I started this blog, my goal was to reach as many people as possible utilizing Twitter, Facebook, and the good ‘ole coconut wireless. Maybe I’ve been more successful than I originally intended! How do these people with tweet counts in the 1000s manage?
In the comments to the last post, several tools were suggested but the overall impression I got was that Twitter is being used in a more or less random fashion. As a database geek at heart, this doesn’t sit well with me. It’s my feeling that there has got to be a better way to manage the tremendous amount of data.
My overarching goal was to reach out to the Twitter community to see if there was any interest in developing an application that would address the issue utilizing reputation analysis and knowledge management principles. My coding skills have always been suspect but I think that I can definitely articulate the requirements. Do we have any takers?
So That's Life? 
Communications Breakdown
01/18/2009Ah inspiration! It’s truly the answer to inaction. I hadn’t posted for a few days and here is the second one on consecutive days.
Early Thursday morning, it became evident that the weather was going to be the hot topic for the day. The NWS had issued a high wind warning for most of the state and rumors were swirling (much like the predicted wind) that danger was imminent. Harking back to the 12/26 blackout, I thought it would be prudent to establish a hashtag for the event.
I bravely sent out my APB to the twitterverse asking for suggested monikers. Nothing. In about 15 minutes (an eternity in Twitter-time), I got 2 responses and it seemed that we had agreed that #makani (the Hawaiian word for wind) was a good choice. I thought I’d done my good deed for the day and went on with my business. I was sadly mistaken.
No news is usually good news and a lack of weather-related tweets were a welcome absence. Then the tweets started and many were either sans hashtag or suddenly sporting new and unrelated versions. It was plainly evident that my “army” of Twitter followers was just a delusion of grandeur! I could have spent a great deal of time replying a reminder to use the “agreed upon” hashtag, but it didn’t seem to be a polite thing to do. In spite of my crushed feelings, weather tweets abounded and the eventual closure of schools and government offices made the rounds. Despite the fact that it turned out to be a pseudo-cane, information had gotten to the people it needed to get to.
Reflecting on these events, I’m going to have to step back and re-think my initial enthusiasm regarding Twitter as an effective method of information dissemination. Then again, perhaps I need to re-evaluate my impact on the data flow and how I can be more effective. I can promise that there will be more on this topic in future posts!
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