Tweet Tweet!

Since I've been a member of Twitter since 2009, I've really been looking forward to this assignment. I use Twitter for conversations, gossip and mostly, reading the news.  When I became a student at Kutztown, I began reading the NYT everyday since it was available on campus.  Instead of picking up the newspaper everyday, I read their tweets.  I follow many different news agencies on Twitter.  Some of the national news groups I follow are MSNBC, President Obama (and his wife!), the House Speaker, John Boehner, NPR Politics, The Washington Post and The Huffington Post. I also follow state news from groups such as the Governor Corbett, PennLive, Capitol Wire, Pennsylvania Legislative Services, PA House Democrats and Republicans and numerous state representatives and senators.  I get even more specific news by following local news accounts such as WGAL-8 (my 'home' tv news station), Lancaster Online, the Reading Eagle and the Philly Inquirer. 
The use of Twitter has engaged consumers of news in many different ways.  Average users are now able to tweet in a comment or question and voice their opinions with other users discussing the same issue.  I was following the hashtag, #educationnation, for a few weeks.  After watching a morning news program, I became really interested in the topic as a whole.  As a result, I also started following @educationnation.  I've also used more informal hashtags such to relate to other users about TV shows or the weather. 
I really enjoy getting my news online from Twitter.  As we've discussed in class, we have the total control over our information intake.  This gives me the opportunity to not only get important political information but also new DIY crafts, news on Beyonce's baby bump, the latest Apple rumors and news about the University. I feel that through Twitter I get more information than I would reading the average newspaper. 
I run into a lot of people who don't really like Twitter, but I think everyone should give it a chance.  It could be extremely useful to some people who want information about specific topics.  There are so many different accounts on Twitter, users can follow almost any interest.  Although it doesn't have chat, photos or a 'like' button, it is still very informative!