Esther C Kane

So, who watches the news anymore?  I mean, what demographics?

Folks over 50?  Over 60?  Over 70?  I’m just guessing here.

I’m 50 and I rarely watch tv news anymore.  It doesn’t matter if it’s local or national or international.  I’m tired of wasting my time listening to what the news department at that particular news station thinks is important.  I just don’t have the time to listen to their opinions and “experts”, etc.

But, I am a bit of a news hound.  I want to know what’s happening, around the corner and around the globe.  So, recently, I’ve been using Twitter and it has become my very own personal newspaper.  It’s really quite cool.  Here are the Twitter tools that I use and how I use them.

http://www.breakingtweets.com/

http://search.twitter.com/

1) I go to http://www.breakingtweets.com/
This is a great website to get news worldwide that’s being spoken about, shared, and announced via Twitter.
They have it broken down into topics and regions so you can pick and choose the areas you’re interested in.

2) If you find a news item that I want to know more about, I then go to http://search.twitter.com/ and type in the main phrase of the story.  This then gives me even more news.

Yes, there are comments in these Tweets, no doubt.  But more important, there are MANY links to stories, articles, journals, etc. that I would have never seen or known about.  I find that I get a more “rounded” view of the story vs. the one sided view of the TV newscasters.

So, should TV news be worried?  YES.  If a TV addict like myself can actually stop watching them, my guess is that many, many more will as well.

So, tell me what you think.  Give this method a try.  Or maybe you know other Twitter tools that can do the same.  Let me know!