Wow. In a matter of a week, we lost four icons. To lose two in one day was even stranger. I was on Twitter each time I found out who had passed. It isn’t that I am on Twitter all that much. The kick of it is the news spread so far and wide and fast, that I heard it on Twitter first, then saw it on MSN.
I am amazed at the impact and the reach Twitter and other social network sites have on our society and even, our politics and the politics of other nations— so much so, that the State Department asked Twitter to NOT do a scheduled maintenance so that the lines of communication would stay open for Iranian citizens protesting the Iran election. Seriously.
As a rule, I stay away from news channels on TV. I don’t need to hear every death, every fight, every politician slamming each other, or worse, getting caught with their pants down, as it seems to be the norm lately (for Pete’s sake, keep it in your pants or get a divorce!). Now it seems I can’t keep it away from me. Twitter is inundated with news. I admit, sometimes I am grateful for it. I probably wouldn’t even have known that any of the 4 had died as quickly as I did if it wasn’t talked about and “retweeted” repeatedly.
The upside to all of this is that Twitter, Facebook and all the others can work for us as well. Promoting your book, product or business? “Tweet it”. Looking for work? Post it on Facebook. With the power of viral marketing you can reach thousands of people in an instant. Talk about amazement. Gone are the days of spending hundreds of dollars on paper, ink, and stamps to get your message out. Now you can do it in a single tweet.
