Hitting Packer's Tweet Spot

NYT biz/tech writer Nick Bilton hits writer George Packer for his recent anti-Twitter piece in the New Yorker, noting, among others things, it was a case of don't knock if you ain't tried it. Excerpt:

Most importantly, Twitter is transforming the nature of news, the industry from which Mr. Packer reaps his paycheck. The news media are going through their most robust transformation since the dawn of the printing press, in large part due to the Internet and services like Twitter. After this metamorphosis takes place, everyone will benefit from the information moving swiftly around the globe.

You can see that change beginning to take place. During the protests in Iran last year, when ordinary Iranians shared information through Twitter about the government atrocities taking place. That supplemented the reporting by professional journalists, who faced restrictions on their movements and coverage. More recently, after the earthquake in Haiti, Twitter helped spread information about donation efforts, connected people to their loved ones, and of course, spread news from inside the country — news that reprinted in this publication.

Finally, there’s the filtering, entertainment and serendipitous value of these services, as I outlined in a previous post.