Does Twitter have legs?

I’d start this post by saying I’m not really atwitter about the social network called, well, Twitter, but I didn’t want to scare everybody off with that lame joke.

Instead, here’s a much funnier joke:

A guy is in the hospital with two broken legs. The nurse comes in and tells him that there’s good news and bad news.

The guy asks for the bad news first.

The nurse says, “We’re going to have to remove your legs.”

Then the guy asks for the good news.

The nurse says, “The guy beside you wants to buy your sneakers.”

Hahahahahahaha!!!!  Whew. That really was a good one.

Anyway, I joined Twitter to see how this social network could help me become a better sports reporter, so I signed up for updates from professional sports team, sports leagues, individual players and even sports TV networks. As a sports reporter, I wanted to see how Twitter can help me develop new story leads or connect me to new sources. Several experts in new media promised this is the wave of the future.

I figured, ‘How could it hurt to try it out.’ After all, I never hear from my Twitter friends – no cool jokes, no smack on people we hate, and no invitations to socialize (all in all, pretty much like my life.) – so, I figured, why not  find new friends like Versus, MLB and Shaquille O’Neal. The folks at Versus can certainly use all the friends they can get (even hockey fanatics cannot find this station.) But on Twitter, I can get updates on the Stanley Cup, on O’Neal’s latest attack on Kobe, and updates of scores minutes (and hours) after they’re posted on MLB.com and other sport Websites. Cool, huh?

And I also get URLs for every feature story, column, and game analysis from team and news organizations, something I could never get online or through an RSS feed.

Plus, Dwight Howard has become a great pal – even calling me ‘baby’ (but not in a bad way, except when bad means good. You older folks, though, probably don’t know what I mean.) Anyway, he’s bustin’ texts to me all the time about respect, Magic spirit, and keeping focused on the Finals. Sadly, he does not plan to speak with me for the next few days.

OK ya’ll, I gotta run for now. I made a vow that I’m keeping my phone turned off during the Finals because I’m going to stay focused. It’s my Twitter-rehab, I guess. No distractions, just concentrating on the game.

I’ll hit ya’ll back tomorrow, but keep those spirits up. We need everybody with the Magic to help us do this thang.

That’s okay. I understand when my pals need their space.

So, I’m going to keep diggin’ into Twitter, looking for new pals and resources to find information. If you have any recommendations, Facebook me, tweet me or add it below. Sadly, I’ll be waiting.

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Tags: Dwight Howard, Facebook, mlb, Orlando Magic, sports journalism, Sports reporting, Twitter, Versus