“There may be some 50 people officially working at Twitter, but it’s more like 5,000 people work for Twitter,” says founder Biz Stone, explaining how third parties and users have out-innovated Twitter with their own product.
Twitter 
US spies buy a stake in social media
America’s spy agencies are pumping money into a software firm that specialises in monitoring blogs and social media services like Flickr, YouTube, Twitter and Amazon. So what do they want with our tweets and twitpics?
Twitter launches… a wine label?
Social networking phenom Twitter is making and selling its own branded wines, with profits going to help promote literacy in the third world. At US$20 for a bottle of Pinot Noir or Chardonnay, it better be a good drop.
Wankley Awards: And The Wankley goes to … a cracker story by AAP
This week’s coveted Wankley Award goes to AAP, for a searing investigation into Kevin Rudd’s afternoon tea, which involved a cappuccino and some carefully eaten pastries.
Meghan McCain: why are people so unkind?
An interesting little Twitter fight is brewing after Meghan “daughter of John now Daily Beast columnist” McCain ‘innocently’ posted a twitpic of herself after tweeting about her “spontaneous night in”…
Twitter kills the Guardian gag
An oil trading firm’s attempt to gag London’s Guardian newspaper from reporting on toxic waste it dumped in west Africa has been thwarted by a surge of social media outrage.
Crikey Clarifier: Why do all these celebrities keep ‘dying’ in New Zealand?
Zach Braff is not the only celebrity to have been the subject of death rumours in recent times. He is also not the only one who has supposedly fallen to their death from the Kauri Cliffs. So what’s going on here? Elly Keating investigates.
Facebook stalk your way to your dream job
Stop stalking your ex, start stalking your potential employers. The more information you know about them — from Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc — the more you can use that info to your own advantage in an interview.
The end of email?
The WSJ has declared email’s reign “over”, with real-time services like Twitter and Facebook increasingly becoming the preferred method of communication. After all, who has time in this modern world to wait for email responses? It can take minutes!
Court reporting in 140 character tweets
A new method of live court reporting is being pioneered at the Federal Court in Sydney — by Tweeps. Journos are tweeting court news, which lawyers, judges and officials are following. Where will the courts draw the line?
Journos who ignore social media will fade into obscurity
A PSA from Margaret Simons: Reporters, do not allow your employer to prevent you from having access to Twitter, Facebook and the like. You risk irrelevance and invisibility.
Dear Twitter: beware the Silicon Valley hype machine
Twitter may be the flavour-of-the-month in the world of tech journalism, says Chris O’Brien, but the much-hyped social media giant could learn a thing or two from the experience of Second Life. What? Exactly.
Crikey Says: Hey Hey it’s the internet
With Hey Hey’s blackface scandal, it’s not so much that community standards have changed in 20 years, it’s that thanks to technology it’s easier for the audience to make its feelings and displeasure heard.
Fresh West Bank horror: street named after Twitter account
A Palestinian refugee camp now has the dubious honour of being home to the world’s first street named after a Twitter account. Dutch-Palestinian Tweep @arjanelfassed paid about AU$167 for the naming rights.
India has a cow over tweeting pollie’s cattle call
There are few more sacred cows in India than, well, cows, as India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor learned the hard way after a throwaway cow-related pun on Twitter caused a nation-wide media storm.
Can Twitter actually help journalism?
The Washington Post’s new guidelines for staff use of Twitter try to keep the paper’s voice objective and fact-based. But what if new media were actually the path to greater objectivity? wonders Margaret Simons.
Vegemite’s new name unites the internet in contempt
Kraft has finally found a name for its “new” Vegemite — and it’s so horrible, the entire internet has gone into snark meltdown.
How Twitter ruined NASA’s big day
NASA was all set to make its big announcement that water has been found on the moon, until some spoil-sports on Twitter let it all spill early. More proof the internet has killed the media embargo?
Twitter raises $100 million, without earning a cent
It’s not quite $1 billion but it’s still a whole mess of money for a company that still has no revenue stream: investors are set to sink about $100 million into social media phenom Twitter. As Media Alley puts it: that’s $7.14 million per character.
WWJT: What Would Jesus Tweet?
Let’s just suspend our disbelief for a few minutes and pretend that Jesus has a Twitter account. What would he tweet? Who would he follow? Would his favourite hashtag be #forgiveness?
Twitter opens up shop
Further proof that Twitter madness has taken hold, with the multitude of Twitter mobile apps now found under one roof, in the new OneForty store.
OMG we’re totes not tweeting our literacy away
Rather than Twitter and text speak destroying our rich language, are we creating a literary revolution not seen since Ancient Greece? Jessica Au explores the different schools of thought.
The world, and Peter Ford, does a Wilkins over Charlie’s Angel “suicide”
Like Jeff Goldblum before her, reports of Charlie’s Angels star Jaclyn Smith’s death have been greatly exaggerated. On Twitter. Then mindlessly regurgitated by Australian entertainment reporters.
Freedom (or freebies) of the press takes another meaning
There was once a time when photographers were sent to cover major events, like today’s Sydney dust storms. These days, free pictures are harvested from the internet.
