Twitter

Most college students would call me crazy, but I honestly believe that there is no better social media platform than Twitter right now. Granted, I haven't tried everything--there's a lot out there! However, Twitter offers a simple but aesthetic interface, concise information, and a way to interact and network with all kinds of people (and I'm not talking stalking...).

As a rock climber (and social media freak) I find that Twitter provides me with information that I simply could not find otherwise. Not only do I hear about the latest and greatest climb news (like Jonathan Siegrist's raping of the Red the past couple weeks via @climbingnarc), but also about:

1. What's going on with climbing companies (the Petzl Power of Light video contest is pretty sweet right now [@Petzl_NA])
2. Thoughts about climbing from other climbers who aren't necessarily pros (answers to @UCMAG's daily questions, which are also on Facebook, are particularly enjoyable)
3. And the lives behind the climbers (interesting sounding cupcake recipe from @Matt_Wilder via @cupcakemafia).

This is the kind of information that thrives on Twitter. It isn't a passive social medium. You get out of it what you put into it, which is what I realized from my Media Writing Twitter assignment. The more I tweeted and sifted through articles worthy of re-tweets, the more I learned about the things I am interested in.

One of the most interesting things I saw on Twitter lately was about a debacle involving climber Steph Davis (@highsteph) and United Airlines (@unitedairlines). The airline company lost her baggage containing thousands of dollars worth of BASE jumping gear. She started talking about it and reaching out to others via social media like Twitter and Facebook. Nearly every tweet included something like "@unitedairlines #customerservicefail". These types of messages were retweeted and shared probably hundreds of times over, posted on her blog, and even published on The Consumerist. Although social media might not have been the main cause, with persistent efforts, Davis finally secured the promise of a search for her missing gear, as well as a full reimbursement should the company fail to locate it. Wow. Behold the power of social media.

To summarize, Twitter is an awesome platform for all kinds of information--climbing related or not--and the more active you are, the better experience you will have (provided you find something a little more interesting to say than "I ate a bologna sandwich for lunch"). So tweeps, get out there and start tweeting!!



Follow me on Twitter @laurengoods89