Using Twitter for the past quarter has been very interesting, giving me a much better understanding of the role it can play in journalism as well as in everyday life. Twitter succeeds by simultaneously restricting and empowering. Many critics mention the 140-character limit as something that disqualifies it from “serious” journalism, but it is precisely that enforced brevity that allows readers to be exposed to a wide range of information from which to choose. At the same time, anyone can tweet something that can be found by millions of users through a simple search. Essentially, Twitter forces users to self-edit and then gives them an enormous audience with which to share their message.

Prior to this quarter I had only dabbled in Twitter, setting up an account but losing interest after about three weeks. I initially signed up because I had a few friends using it who told me I should sign up. I didn’t follow very many people and while my friends’ tweets were great and all, I can see where people get the impression that it is just people telling other people what they ate for lunch.

Once I created a Twitter account for COM 466 and was given a good list of people to follow, I began to understand how journalists could use it. The leveling effect of the search results gives the person who happened to witness a newsworthy event the potential to gain as much exposure as someone like Anderson Cooper or Sean Hannity. The most recent example of this phenomenon is Sohaib Athar, the IT consultant who unknowingly live-tweeted the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Being famous does have its definite advantages on Twitter, as the name recognition allows you to build a huge number of followers. For example, NPR’s Scott Simon currently has over 1.25 million followers of his tweets.

Overall, Twitter is a great tool for journalists. One of the most important uses is as a promotional tool, allowing someone like Scott Simon the ability to let 1.25 million people know if he has something new posted on the NPR website. The ability to send out a brief teaser about a piece you have written with a link to your site has never really existed before, and the ability to write short, catchy synopses is something that has the potential to be highly rewarded.  Twitter also rewards time and dedication, especially if you are an unknown looking to get off the ground. I noticed that when I first started tweeting, I would gain a couple followers each week. However, once I began tweeting less frequently, my followers started leaving. This very visceral representation of how people are receiving your tweets can be a valuable tool in and of itself.

Average citizens using Twitter may be the beneficiaries of the biggest lift from Twitter. If you are a regular person looking to get into journalism, Twitter can be your personal press secretary, announcing your posts with enticing hashtags to lure in potential readers. Twitter can be used by people to promote pretty much anything from written articles to upcoming concerts to a sale at a small business. For example, many food carts that move from place to place throughout the week use Twitter as a way to let their customers know where they will be located on a given day. There is even a beer vendor who takes orders via tweet at Seattle Mariners games. On the flip side, Twitter is a great way for consumers to find out about deals, free giveaways, and other events by following their favorite companies. Just last Friday I found out about a promotion at Starbucks where you could pick up free vouchers redeemable for Mariners tickets through Twitter. My girlfriend is always on Twitter, but only to find out about promotions and other events.

Overall, I think Twitter has the potential to revolutionize communication between citizens, journalists, public relations professionals, small businesses, and anyone else who has something they want to say to the world. We are beginning to see some of these changes already. Barring some unforeseen new technology, Twitter should continue to develop into a dominant, worldwide communication network.

1. Osama bin Laden’s neighbor - This video from the New York Times features an interview with a small boy who lived near Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad. This story uses a good mix of the five types of shots, and does a good job of using video to illustrate what the boy is talking about.
2. Seattle’s Best Coffee - This piece from the Seattle Times revolves around one of their reporters attending a coffee cupping with two employees of Seattle’s Best Coffee. I liked this video because it also has a good mix of the five types of shots. In addition, it makes a good use of the slurping sounds of the three individuals tasting the coffee and has a good balance of straight interview shots as well as voice overs describing what you are seeing.
3. World’s Best Pizza Acrobat – This short video from the San Francisco Chronicle focuses on a man who bills himself as “The World’s Best Pizza Acrobat” and does a great job of mixing up shot types. Having the story be about someone who throws pizza dough with a lot of flair definitely makes it easy to assemble some entertaining footage.

Not only does Wing Luke have an excellent collection, the museum itself is located in the 100-year-old East Kong Yick building, which among other things served as a hotel for minorities shutout of the cities white-owned boarding houses. To best take advantage of its unique location, plan your visit around one of the guided tours that gives you access to parts of the building normally closed to the public, including the restored hotel and Yick Fung Co. storefront. Let this audio slideshow whet your appetite for a trip to the Wing Luke Museum.

Tours are normally offered hourly on the half hour between 10:30 and 3:30, but you can contact the museum at (206) 623-5124 ext. 133 to check the times for the day you plan on visiting. For more information, visit the Wing Luke Museum website.

Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience

719 S King St Seattle, WA 98104

1. The walking tour begins at the Chinatown Gate, located on S King St near 5th Ave S. The Chinatown Gate was completed in February 2008.
2. Walking north on S King St you will come to Hing Hay Park with its picturesque Grand Pavilion, which was a gift to the city from Taipei, Taiwan. The name Hing Hay Park roughly translates to “Park for Pleasurable Gatherings” in Chinese.
3. Turning south off S King St down Maynard Alley will lead you past the site of Washington’s deadliest mass killing, called the Wah Mee Massacre after the Wah Mee gambling club in which it took place.
4. The China Gate Restaurant, now closed, is located on 7th Ave S between S King St and S Weller St. Once a popular destination for dim sum, it is currently being renovated and will be reopen as the Gom Hong Market.
5. When visiting the new home of the Wing Luke Museum at S King St and 8th Ave S, make sure to walk around to the back to see the old windows that have been bricked-over. The museum is located in the historic East Kong Yick Building, which also borders Canton Alley with its recently renovated storefront apartments.
6. At the corner of S Jackson St and Maynard Ave S stop to admire a statue by George Tsutakawa, erected in 1978.
7. Built in 1910, the Panama Hotel served as a gathering place for Seattle’s Japanese community. The Panama Hotel Tea and Coffee House is a great place to stop for your favorite steeped or brewed beverage.
8. This stone lantern in Kobe Terrace was a given to Seattle by its sister city Kobe, Japan in 1976.
9. After working up an appetite head to Uwajimaya Village, where you can find a variety of Asian grocery items, as well as dine in their food court.

I think I met my basic goal of creating a walking tour with some interesting photos. I took almost 180 pictures, but I still didn’t have good shots of places that I wanted to include. Knowing in advance how many slides I would need to produce would also have made it easier to focus on the things I wanted to photograph and spend more time shooting them. If I was going to do this assignment over, I would use a better camera and narrow down my list of places to get better photos. Also, I would probably not make the map for the walking tour in the Mac equivalent of MS Paint.