Seems Twitter played a big role in recent events. I happened to remember (and look up) a column
of Ms. Wente’s about Twitter today.
Nicholas
Carr is a writer whose article, “Is
Google Making Us Stupid” Ms. Wente discussed in 2008.
He blogs at Rough Type. Here’s something he wrote on March 27, 2009 about a New York
Times article on celebrity tweets (emphasis mine):
…a
lot of celebrities have hired flacks to feed content into their Twitter
streams, their blogs, and the various other online channels of
faux authenticity. A gentleman named Broadway (not his real name) thumbs tweets
for rapper 50 Cent (not his real name), who has nearly a quarter million pseudonymous
followers... "He doesn't actually use Twitter," Broadway says ...
"but the energy of it is all him."
Here’s
what Margaret Wente wrote the next day.
A lot of celebrities are now using Twitter as a marketing tool to
create an air of faux authenticity and faux connection. They hire
flacks to feed content into their Twitter streams and blogs. The New York
Times reports that a gentleman named Broadway (not his real name)
thumbs tweets for rapper 50 Cent (not his real name), who has nearly a quarter
of a million followers. “He doesn't actually use Twitter,” Broadway says. “But
the energy of it is all him.”
