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 pseudonymousfollowers... "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.”
