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Yes, I’m writing about Twitter… again.
Don’t think I’m one of those annoying addicts who tweets 500 times a day, though. In fact, I don’t even have a Twitter account. I find the whole phenomenon a little voyeuristic and creepy.
But Redskins Twackle just might make me change my mind.
Twackle, run by sports marketing and representation firm Octagon, provides feeds of sports-themed tweets. There are Twackle feeds for different sports, leagues, teams and even players. So instead of trolling many individual Twitter feeds searching for Redskins news, you can simply type in RedskinsTwackle.com and find tweets coming from the team, players, media and general Twitterati all in one place. To get the latest news and rumors, you can simply refresh the Twackle page.
As Octagon Digital CEO Jim DeLorenzo told ESPN the Magazine: “If I find a news source on Twitter or some feed that is discussing the Yankees, it’s one thing to be following that one feed. It’s another to be able to go to our Yankees feed on Twackle and see what everybody is saying about the Yankees. You’re increasing the amount of content and data that you can find by a significant amount.”
And you can easily retweet or reply by signing into your Twitter account. There’s even a “Talk Smack” feature to converse directly with other users. By bringing fans, players, team officials and the media together as a team community, it creates a new concept of who creates and spreads news. On Twackle, the public takes an active role in not only disseminating the news but also can interact directly with players, the team and reporters through their tweets. They can even start stories themselves. (See Robert Henson.)
Unfortunately, you can’t take part in the interaction unless you have Twitter, leaving me on the outside. However, I’m rethinking my position. Really, who cares about creepiness if I can know what cornerback DeAngelo Hall is doing tonight? (Watching a movie with his family, in case you were interested.)
Other cool features…
- “Today’s Top Trends” gives the phrases mentioned most in a particular feed that day.
- The “Links” tab directs people to the feed’s most-tweeted links that day.
- You can embed Twackle feeds as widgets for blogs. (Not on WordPress, though…)
While far from a traditional news site, Twackle is at the cutting edge of the online news world. Web sites are pushing to connect with the audience; the more users actively contribute, the more likely they are to come back. And interactivity and community are the most important parts of Twackle. Actually, the users themselves are the most crucial element – they drive the news by tweeting it, retweeting it, analyzing and linking to it, all in quickly digestible bites. Twackle is a truly interactive news experience that could be the next frontier for news on the Web.
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