The Twitter Election

Today on Word of Mouth, we look at a web application that’s growing in popularity, even if it’s hard to explain why. Twitter is a social networking site with a minimalist approach. Users are asked to participate simply by writing what they’re doing at any given moment. If you’re baking a loaf of bread, twitter it. Getting ready for work? Twitter it. Thinking about buying a new sofa? Let the world know.

You have a small amount of space to type exactly what you’re doing at any given moment. Non-Twitter users usually scratch their head when they first hear about it. But once you try it out, it’s easy to find yourself hooked.

It started as a way for friends to follow the minutiae of each other’s lives. But now it’s become a window on public opinion – you can search for terms like “Wall Street” or “football” and see what thousands of people are saying about those topics. And now with campaign season heating up, Twitter is becoming the hot place to tap into the national political dialogue. Even some journalists were twittering during the first Presidential debate, including public radio hosts like Brooke Gladstone and John Hockenberry, sharing their thoughts with the world in real time.

New York Times editor Saul Hansell recently wrote about Twitter and the elections, and joins us with more.

Word of Mouth launched its Twitter page today! You can follow us at twitter.com/wordofmouth. Tell us how you use Twitter. For example, a listener named Christopher wrote to tell us that Twitter has evolved for him from a glorified text messaging service to a constant conversation with a growing number of friends. He also says it keeps him much more aware during this political season.