by: Juliah Mason

Today, as media figures have about as many or more Twitter followers as they have in circulation or viewership for their own productions (newspapers, TV shows, etc.) the question that no one can ignore or avoid any longer lingers: Is Twitter a legitimate form of journalism? In an article for the American Journalism Review, Paul Farhi explains why tweeting can actually be a productive, helpful tool for journalists and the field. The most obvious benefit is speed. Tweeting is a medium that allows journalists to instantly reach hundreds/thousands of people with either interesting headlines, breaking news, or even the onset of natural disasters or traffic jams. Another positive attribute suggests Farhi is crowdsourcing. Publications or broadcast stations can reach out to its audience, or in this case followers, and request for eyewitness statements, pictures, audio, or video footage.

Twitter is being used more and more in actual newsrooms. While reporters are still gathering facts and information for a full story, sending out short tweets allows them to get a jump start in breaking the story before other competitors and gathers interest and intrigue from the target audience. In our fast-paced society, immediate news coverage seems to be more than ideal. So what's the catch?

With millions of unanimous users, it's a bit difficult to sift through the legitimate and illegitimate posts. Although it can be beneficial for reporters to release a breaking story instantaneously, not having the full details can sometimes become a serious drawback and create devastating repercussions. Too often do people begin to tweet about topics or news in which they do not know all the details causing vicious rumors to "fly" all over cyberspace.

Craig Kanalley talks about 10 ways to optimize your Twitter . In his blog he discusses the most important ideas to keep in mind when tweeting, retweeting, and following. While this does not lock Twitter in as a completely authentic tool of reporting by journalistic standards, the guidelines are useful in creating a Twitter experience that is the most beneficial for both you and your followers. Although it can still be questioned of whether or not this social media tool is actually the new way of journalism for the 21st century, there is certainly no doubt that is important for media outlets, crucial in means of mass communication, and a resourceful medium for the modern-day, savvy Internet user.

By Susan O'Rourke

“News no longer breaks; it tweets,” according to Brian Solis from Engage Magazine. Social media sites such as Twitter have begun to change the way people receive and report news each day making it more accessible, faster, and appealing to the younger generation.

So the question to ask is, is twitter journalism the way most journalism will be for future generations to come? Some like to argue that it is not and as there are more alternative ways to receive the news that are just as fast but the context is much better compared to Twitter. According to Michael Del Monte from Scribble Live, “Twitter works nicely for providing links to existing stories, but with all due respect to those who consider it the future of news, it is not a workable or desirable medium for journalism. Twitter’s limitations make it a poor medium for news coverage.”

Despite opposing views to Twitter’s capability of becoming a legitimate news medium, most believe that journalists have to hop on the Twitter bandwagon, as it will be beneficial for news reporting in the future. For instance, Twitter has been the source for breaking news as big news stories in the past have broke first on twitter like the US Airways flight crash landing into the Hudson, Twitter was the first to “beat the world to the story that a jet had gone down in the drink.”

In an interview between Rory O’Connor from the Huffington Post, and Biz Stone, Twitter co-founder , O’Connor questioned her on the development of the social media site and what she for sees in the future for the site. Stone commented on the fact that news organizations are taking notice on how Twitter is impacting news reporting and places like CNN, New York Times and so on have all began to use Twitter.

It is evident that Twitter is becoming the future of journalism and will virtually become the primary news source to people around the world. Rory O’Connor says, “Twitter has become a go-to source of news you can use when and where you want and need it -- often when and where the legacy media cannot yet or no longer supplies it.”

By Andrea Haimindra

Every generation has a new, yet unique way of communicating news. Our generation has transformed into a social media frenzy. Social media has been a huge success and has skyrocketed nowadays because of websites such as Twitter and Facebook. These websites have been very effective because one can pick, choose, and filter any information they want with this widespread news cycle in order to engage any type of audience. These websites are becoming the main sources of news because they are in essence blogs where people can create, talk, and sum up news in a short and sweet way. Craig Kanalley couldn’t have said it better, “If it’s not in 140 characters or less, you may lose them.” “This generation doesn’t read. It scans. Write simply and use bullets or lists whenever possible, he says.”

Today, society is living in this advantageous technological era where news wants to be heard, and is heard as brief as possible. Whether it’s news on war, natural disasters, the economy, or if Kim Kardashian is getting married again, people want only compelling information as quick as possible. With the use of Twitter, journalism is only expanding and getting better in many more different ways. Citizen journalism is the main factor on Twitter, but it is becoming so popular that people don’t really bother with television news and newspapers anymore. Although Twitter may not provide every detail, it provides enough to get the news flowing in seconds. Twitter reached 12,233 tweets per second at the end of the Giants vs. Patriots Superbowl game this year, and 10,245 tweets per second during Madonna’s halftime performance during that game, making it the second and third most recorded tweets per second in Twitter history. Twitter has even become so newsworthy that Whitney Houston's death was reported on Twitter by one of her nieces’ hairstylist before the Associated Press released the news, and Osama Bin Laden’s raid and death was being tweeted live by a citizen in Pakistan ten hours before it was released to the public. I’m not saying that Twitter is the best type of journalism, but it gets the job done for our generation. Richard Klicki of The Daily Herald in Chicago vividly describes it when he calls our era the “Short Attention Span News Generation.”

Not only is Twitter a great source of journalism today, it is even helping journalists do their jobs. According to a recent survey out of Norway, journalists turn to Twitter for research 30 percent of the time, private use 29 percent of the time, getting story ideas 23 percent of the time, and promotion and branding 17 percent of the time. Additionally it is used for building networks with other journalists 15 percent of the time, getting into contact with sources and doing interviews 13 percent of the time, and getting feedback from readers 12 percent of the time. Ultimately, Twitter can cover many types of events, whether live or not, and can also be used to publish headlines and breaking news for global audiences. As of now, it is a very effective tool used to inform our society in many positive ways, and I believe it will only get better in the future.

By Aaron Pinto

Just as newspapers were an upgrade from spoken word; just as radio news was an upgrade from newspapers; just as television news was an upgrade from radio, we are now witnessing social media-- i.e. computer-based networking, specifically Twitter-- as the newest upgrade in news and journalism. According to Business Insider, Twitter has upwards of 100 million users. Twitter is easy to use and merely requires a cell phone with internet to access. In other words, news is going to travel fastest not in the form of newspaper, radio, or television-- in 2012, it's going to be through a tweet.

But is anyone a journalist now? It all depends-- there are citizens who happen to report "newsworthy" events as they see them-- natural disasters, terrorist attacks and word quickly travels; it makes people aware. News stations then come out with the details. Twitter, in a way, helps bridge the gap between events that occur, and the detailed report of what occurs. It keeps the people updated as quickly and frequently as possible, even if all the information can't be ascertained by a tweet. Bridging the gap even further are news outlets that also have twitter accounts. Most popular news stations do have twitter accounts that either report the news as it happens, or quickly post links to more in-depth articles or helpful visuals.

According to media consultant Craig Stoltz, Twitter "works best in situations where the story is changing so fast that the mainstream media can't assemble all the facts at once," adding "The plane crash, the riot, the political event — these are the kinds of stories where time is important and the facts are scattered." In other words, though Twitter may not be the most reliable or accurate source, when it comes to breaking news, it helps a great deal.

Brian Solis of Business Week also supports Twitter Journalism. He said, "With every new iterative update, social graphs transform into a highly organized information distribution system that resembles an Amber Alert network for the social Web—with far greater speed, reach, impact, and resonance."

Is Twitter as thorough as newspapers and television broadcasts? It's debatable. Is it the fastest way that news travels? You bet. Is it the future of journalism? Only time can tell-- but it sure seems like it.