Confessions of a Twitter Addict

Families boot up computers, phones on waking

(NEWSER) - When it comes to morning routines, the modern family has a new set of priorities, many of which require a screen, the New York Times reports. “It used to be you woke up, went to the bathroom, maybe brushed your teeth, and picked up the newspaper,” says an expert. Now, “I’ll be the first to admit: the first thing I do is check my email.” More»

(NEWSER) - The delightfully profane dad who's the unwitting star of the August Twitter sensation "shitmydadsays," where his recently-moved-back-home son posts his cranky rants about making messes and dodging chores, may not be quite as clueless as he's been made out to be. Sam Halperin is actually a 73-year-old with a long career in nuclear medicine, the Los Angeles Times reports, and his Justin, is actually a writer at Maxim. More»

(NEWSER) - The concept of Twitter, widely copied in the US and abroad, has found a home at a mommy-centric website, the Wall Street Journal reports. The site Today’s Mama hosts a new microblog called “Connect," which, unlike Twitter, allows users to join groups by region or topic. But it still hews to the basic format; mothers who want to write more than 140 words need not apply. More»

Twitter tries and fails to take down another celebrity

(NEWSER) - Bill Cosby is not dead, despite what you might have read on the Internet this afternoon. In fact, the 73-year-old comedy legend is alive, well, and making up words on Twitter, reports WPIX . Using a term he created after a similar false alarm in February, he tweeted today, "Again, I'm rebutalling rumors about my demise." He added , "Emotional friends have called about this misinformation. To the people behind the foolishness, I’m not sure you see how upsetting this is." To learn more about things the web has actually killed, click here . More»

Arizona senator's following 46 times greater than nearest rival

(NEWSER) - John McCain is leading the charge of tweeting lawmakers, with 46 times more Twitter followers—a cool 1.7 million —than his nearest competitor, Missouri Democrat Sen. Claire McCaskill. McCain’s popularity also illustrates Republicans’ quick embrace of the social network; twice as many of them tweet, compared to Democrats. “I love it; it’s so interactive,” McCain tells Bloomberg . More»