Tweet Tweet

I have to admit that I am becoming something of a Twitter addict.  I used to scoff at most of the social media on the web--why would I care what everyone is cooking for dinner tonight--and do I need to know what everyone thinks about every dance on Dancing With the Stars?  But once you learn who to follow and who not to follow, Twitter is one of the best things on the Internet.

It has become the preferred format of all types of media to "break" news now.  There have been some ugly battles over who was first to "tweet" about a trade in baseball or an announcement in the Presidential campaign or the latests celebrity to get arrested.  Call me old-fashioned, but I still place a priority on the actual radio part of my job--so stories get "broken" there first--then I'll tweet it.

Where else could I get a golf tip from Hank Haney (@HankDHaney), discuss why "The Searchers" is one of the greatest Westerns ever with Anthony Bourdain (@NoReservatons) and get Drunk Hulk's (@DRUNKHULK) take on the important issues of the day?

The best part of Twitter for me is that it turns my iPhone into a portal into the best sports bar in the world.  There aren't a lot of Boston Bruins fans in this area--but I managed to find several dozen on Twitter--and every game night we can share funny comments, complaints and coaching suggestions amongst ourselves--just like we were all sitting in my living room.

Advertisers are falling all over themselves to get their ads on social media sites--buying the sales pitch that they can specifically "target" people with certain interests.  But I feel sorry for any business trying to figure out my profile.  I follow President Obama (@BarackObama) and Mitt Romney (@MittRomney).  I look forward to fiscally responsible tweets from Paul Ryan (@RepPaulRyan) and new ways to spend more tax money from New York Times economist Paul Krugman (@NYTimeskrugman).  I even follow Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) and Rush Limbaugh (@rushlimbaugh).

If you would like to follow along in my conversation add me @woshnews--that is the news-related account with breaking news stories and some live tweeting of meetings and events in the area--or @jonkrause77--that's my personal account, so you can expect a lot of baseball, golf and DRUNK HULK retweets.