Social media lives up to mission statement
“Just setting up my twttr” @jack. It began with creator and co-founder Jack Dorsey’s first tweet. He added an “i” and an “e” to the name to make it “a short burst of inconsequential information” — Dorsey’s definition of Twitter. People complain, but Dorsey stated the site’s intentions from the start.
“What kind of person celebrates death? It’s amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak. We’ve only heard one side... ” was tweeted by @R_Mendenhall, running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers. In his Twitter description, Rashard Mendenhall is a self-proclaimed conversationalist and professional athlete. I’ll try to ignore the moronic statement made by the self-proclaimed conversationalist, but it’s difficult.
As ESPN has evolved since it started in 1979 and sites like deadspin.com have formed more recently, athletes are analyzed and critiqued not only on the field but off as well. The triumvirate of overly scrutinized individuals in society are politicians, actors and athletes. The ability to hear someone like Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns share thoughts on gay marriage or on Shaquille O’neal’s retirement, allows athletes to form new connections with their fans.
The main detractors of Twitter are the people who don’t use it. If someone has a traumatic experience of sorts with drinking, such as a DUI, domestic violence or harassing a cop, then not drinking is understandable. If you have never used Twitter, shut your mouth, take the two seconds to sign up for an account and give it a shot.
If you have used it for only an hour, don’t pass judgment. It’s a personalized service constantly being perfected that gives an unparalleled ability to hear the top sports writers’ analysis and free flow of thoughts from athletes.