The one thing I don’t like about Twitter is that you can’t contact people who don’t follow you. I would use Twitter, after this Journalism class, if this feature was available. Being able to contact people who don’t follow you would be very helpful to students like me, who want to contact companies or people for jobs. I think Twitter is a very useful tool to find jobs and contact people, if only I could contact the people I wanted to! I was really inspired by the article #TwitterGetsYouHired: A Response To @nytkeller’s ‘#TwitterMakesYouDumb’ yet I can’t reach out to those I want to hire me! There are many people from companies all around the country that I want to contact, yet cannot. I have also learned that it is very hard to write a tweet in 140 words or less!

I think Twitter, as a tool for journalists, in the future is a great idea to be able to get your story, picture, video, or to let your audience know what you’re covering and if you’re on TV, when you will be on. Twitter is great for journalists to get information right to the web. I follow Ainsley Earhardt and she posted a tweet that she will be on FOX News Channel at 2:30 AM covering the latest on the tornado. That is very helpful for me to know when to watch her. Yet, with all online platforms, I don’t foresee Twitter having a long shelf life, but some other tool being invented that comes along and takes its place. Think about Friendster and MySpace, just to name a couple platforms that are has-bens. For now and as long as Twitter is alive and thriving, I think it is a great tool for journalists, but for me particularly, I much prefer going to websites and blogs to get the news. Yet for journalists who want to be the first to cover an assignment, Twitter helps that happen by the immediacy of being able to post and sign your name to the news article or picture.

Twitter as a tool for citizens, I think it will die out. I think people will get sick of reading what people ate for lunch or what people are randomly thinking, such as a tweet by Andrea Lavinthal, who I follow. Lavinthal tweeted: “My brother just told me that my hair looks like Jennifer Anistons. Assuming he needs to borrow a large sum of money.” I think that is irrelevant and who really cares to know that! This is obviously just my personal opinion, but I don’t see citizens posting on Twitter for years to come. I think Twitter, more than anything for citizens, will turn into more of a branding tool, such as Kitty Cheung is doing. On her Twitter page she promotes herself as a graphic designer. As I wrote about earlier, I will only use Twitter to post the clothing I design. So I see Twitter phasing out of people posting thoughts to using Twitter to really brand themselves.

As for news organizations and their future on Twitter, I think it is a great tool, as with journalists, to post breaking news and up to the minute information, since Twitter is in real time. I think for news organizations Twitter is here to stay because for busy people they can get snippets of information from their favorite news sources by checking their tweets. I follow ABC News’ tweets because I can quickly check breaking news on the go!

Ann Curry does a great job of interviewing and keeping the viewer engaged. Follow her @anncurrytoday

I enjoy watching Parella Lewis on Washington’s Most Wanted. I think she does a great job of reporting about wanted criminals! Follow her @ParellaLewis

Lily Jang is very clear and concise on TV and that’s why I like about her and why I watch her on KCPQ. Follow her @LilyJang

I love watching Robin Meade on ET, it’s my favorite entertainment channel! Follow her @RobinMeade

The video Mom get child support after 30 years is very emotional. There are many close ups of her, crying, which makes the viewer feel her emotion. I also think showing a photo of the ladies daughters brings a sense of realness to the video and something a lot of moms can relate to.

I think the video Women entrepreneurs find growth is something a lot of people can relate to. The lady being interviewed in shown with a circle of children around her as she explains the benefits to growing vegetables. The entrepreneur in this video used to be in PR but traded in her office job for the “farm.” I like how down to earth the video is and how it relates to many civilians.

The bond a grandma and her granddaughter have is undeniable. My grandma babysat and raised me from the time I was born, helped me dress my Barbies and got me my first easy bake oven. I thought that I was a chef who could turn any kind of ingredients into an edible dinner. The bond my grandma and I share may soon be coming to an end because she is not doing well and took a turn for the worse over Mother’s Day weekend. I wanted to do something special for her, something that took thought. Her favorite dessert is cheesecake, so I made her a peanut butter cheesecake swirl. Check out my SoundSlides project!

b. I think I met my goals fine, but I think that being a visual storyteller is a lot harder than it looks! If I had a chance to redo this assignment I would have liked to get a sound clip from my grandma, but due to her health, she was not able to do it.

2. I think Courtney Friel is a great reporter who goes out of her way to get her fans the news! Follow her @courtneyfriel

3. I think Contessa Brewer does a great job of telling the public of breaking news, when it happens! Follow her @contessabrewer

4. I think Jill Dobson does a great job of reporting entertainment news! Follow her @JillDobson

5. I think Ryan Seacrest is a great interviewer and I love entertainment news, so I listen to him all the time! Follow him @seacrestfanzone