Ditch Twitter? But then how would I follow Kristoff?

I did an evaluation of my social media habits and realized that most of what I do on twitter (including tweet) is probably a waste of time. Twitter doesn't allow me to develop thoughts beyond that iconic 140 character limit. As far as sharing links goes, I doubt the effectiveness of my efforts because not many people follow my Twitter account.

So then, should I give up my Twitter account altogether, I wondered? Even though I enjoy the time I waste on it?

But wait! If I ditched the T-bird, then how would I hear about Nicholas Kristoff's articles and thoughts? (Like this one, an important addition to the discussion of poverty in America.) He's a writer for the New York Times, and my role-model in the industry. (It helps that he's from a small town in Oregon, just like me.)

Twitter, I realized, is valuable to me because it is a curator for my news consumption. Well, perhaps favorite reporters like Kristoff curate news first, and then Twitter aggregates their 'curations' for me. Possibly I could get the same utility from an RSS feed; I've never tried.

---now for a look back to last week's class discussion---

	Social Responsibility Model	Identity-based Model
Goal:	A better society	Survival of the publication
Responds to perception of:	Audience needs	Audience Wants
As a business model:	Seems impractical	Possibly successful

The reading we were assigned this week, from The Long Tale, offers interesting insights into the practicality of the identity-based model, calling it 'niche culture'. Probably there's even a way for forward thinking individuals to utilize niche culture to make a profit writing things that are actually beneficial to society (beyond entertainment value.)