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Edited on Thu Aug-06-09 12:07 PM by Pirate Smile
Who you choose to follow, not who is following you, determines if you get anything out of it. It is like a permanent open thread/LBN and you pick whose comments you want to see. Comments you want to see can include a ton of websites which post the headlines and links whenever they add a new story or thread.
You get Breaking News from a variety of sources you choose as soon as they get posted online - NYT, MSNBC, The Hill, WSJ, Marketwatch, Think Progress, Media Matters, etc. AND posts telling you when blogs you like post a new story or thread - The Daily Dish, Daily Kos, AmericaBlog, Wonkette, Swampland, etc.
You can also talk to reporters - ask questions, complain, point out information you think they aren't aware of, etc - along with find out what they are doing on their shows, who they'll have on, etc. It definitely helps provide interaction between the public and the reporters/anchors.
You can also respond to politicians like Claire McCaskill, Grassley, etc. (Last night McCaskill tweeted that she thought the town hall people were just regular citizens. She got deluged with people posting (tweeting in Twitter-language) and providing links to all the info re how it is all orchistrated.)
There are also people - like on DU - who post while watching the same shows, who have similar POV - bitch about Tweety, or laugh at the same stuff on The Daily Show/Colbert/Rachel Maddow/KO/etc. You see the chatter behind the scenes between reporters and bloggers and politicians. The chatter by the Democrats and Dem bloggers on the tea bag crap has been quite entertaining, ACORN is also the root of all evil.(this was initially posted during the Teabag crap)
That is my quick synopsis of its appeal. It takes a little while to figure it out and it all depends on who you choose to "follow". One way to help figure out who to "follow" (follow just means you see their posts - it doesn't mean you are their sheep) is to look at who the people you have similar interests to are following. You are probably going to have similar interests. You can always stop following anyone when you no longer want to see what they post.
Also, you do NOT have to post (or tweet) anything at all or anything about yourself or what you are doing. edit to add - you can also correspond with people you already know - you see what they post and can respond back an forth. You also make new friends and respond back and forth. We've seen how they used it in Iran to organize protests.
As with any new media, it is as useful or useless as you make it. People use hashtags (#hcr = health care reform) to follow specific issues. Companies have also responded to people complaining about issues they are having - someone bitching about dealing with Southwest Airlines can get tweeted by Southwest Airlines Cust Serv to try to help because horror stories and bad publicity can spread fast.
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