The Twitter election

My first presidential election was in 2004. I could have voted in 2000, but at that point in time I wasn’t very interested. And as things turned out, the guy I would have voted for wouldn’t have won anyway. But this year was an election like no other…in more ways than one.

First off, I didn’t have to go anywhere to vote. How awesome is that? Ohio allowed early in-person voting or even absentee voting for everyone. Being the lazy person I am, I just mailed in my choices. No mess, no fuss. In 2004 I had to wait in line in the rain for a long time, all to just see my guy lose. That sucked. I hope Ohio allows the mail-in ballots every year. I have no doubt it helped attract more voters beyond those getting to vote for the first time anyway.

This election day was also different because it was the first election that I haven’t had to work late into the night. When I worked at the TV station I had to help with late night support, which kept me there well until after midnight, even for non-presidential elections. Yeah, we got free food, but I’d have rather been home. Being on the couch this year able to watch the circus in comfort was awesome. But one thing else also accompanied my election night coverage - Twitter.

More with this Twitter? I know, I know…but it’s on my mind a lot now and I’m still trying to figure it out. And last night I think I found (another) good analogy for Twitter. Some have compared it to a giant cocktail party - I think I’m going to compare it to camp - like school camp or summer camp.

Twitter is a “place” where you’re thrown together with people you don’t know. You’re all there for the same reason but aren’t exactly sure what that reason is, so you just start talking, slowing getting to know people and finding out who’s who. You don’t really get too personal with the kids at camp, but it’s fun to shoot the shit and share some interests. And then by the end of camp, you’re all happy you made new friends but are sad to go home…only with Twitter, you don’t have to go home.

So last night I had two election watching buddies - my wife and Twitter.

The Wife had the laptop all night so I was without internet until I remembered my new Blackberry has internet on it. So while she sat with the big computer, I sat with my phone checking the Twitter and adding my two cents when I felt inclined. It was pretty neat to see what the few Twitter friends I have were saying about the election. You could tell quickly who was watching what or where they each were. Even in the delayed world of Twitter, you could get in on a conversation and have some fun.

I guess this was Twitter’s first election and it held up well. I noticed a few times of slowness, but even on my Blackberry it went smoothly. I think it proved to me that Twitter can be a valuable form of communication. Sure, Twitter is full of a lot of junk tweets but when you just keep track of your Twitter pals and avoid the general public, it turns out to be a lot of fun. The passiveness of Twitter makes it all acceptable. You can respond or just watch, either way you get to throw your thoughts out to a room full of people - and who doesn’t like to share what they think is right, awesome, and fun?

However, I fear Twitter may have jumped the shark on election night because Colbert/Stewart made a joke about it.  Colbert was blogging about Twittering tweets. Or it may mean that Twitter can no longer be a buzzword and it just “is” now. We’ll see.