Twitter Scores With Jocks, Fans

Observer pokes fun at Times ' Twitter story

(NEWSER) - The New York Times forbids the word "tweet" (in the Twitter sense) from its pages, as the Awl noted a while back. So when the paper wrote a story about LeBron James' doings on Twitter, the New York Observer wondered how in the world it would manage. Here are some tweet euphemisms it found in the story: "added a post," "chimed in," "wrote," "posted," "added his opinion," "had a question," and "professed great insight." But nobody at any point actually "tweeted." More»

Get real, inside connections with athletes

(NEWSER) - Being cooped up during the winter can be tough on some, but not hard-core sports fans. And social networking adds a new dimension, so if you’re still on the fence about Twitter et al., former NBA star Jalen Rose, writing for Mashable , tells you why you should get in the game:

• Give yourself a voice: Instead of yelling at the TV, hit up, say, Shaquille O’Neal ( @THE_REAL_SHAQ ), and you might even get a reply.

Twitterverse battle does little damage

(NEWSER) - Russia is unleashing its latest weapon in a standoff with the US: Twitter. A barrage of critical tweets attacked US ambassador Michael McFaul for his "unprofessional" speech to Moscow economic students concerning the two nations. An "ambassador's job is to improve bilateral ties, not to spread blatant falsehoods through the mediasphere," said one of the tweets, which accused McFaul of several "distortions." More»

Jennifer Egan's 'Black Box' serialized on Twitter

(NEWSER) - The latest story from a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer will appear in 140-character chunks. The New Yorker is publishing Jennifer Egan's "Black Box" in installments on Twitter, the New York Observer reports. The tweets, which began yesterday , will appear from 8pm to 9pm every day for nine days. They'll also be collected each day at the magazine's Page-Turner blog . The whole story will appear in Monday's science fiction issue of the New Yorker. More»

Users have rights to all content, company argues

(NEWSER) - Twitter is fighting a subpoena demanding tweets of an Occupy protester on trial in Manhattan. The outcome of the battle could have a major impact on tweeters' privacy. The company is arguing that Twitter has no claim on a user's communication, and therefore has no right to turn them over to a court. Prosecutors are seeking three months of tweets written by protester Malcolm Harris, who was busted on the Brooklyn Bridge last year along with 700 other Occupy activists. Harris filed his own motion to quash the subpoena, contending there's "no justification" for access to "such a broad swath of electronic data." But the judge threw out the motion, ruling that the tweets don't belong to him and he has no standing to fight for them. More»