View From the Phlipside - Most Important Tweets?

These are the scripts from my weekly media commentary program on WRFA-LP Jamestown

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, Radio, the movies and more. I love 'em and I hate em' and I always have an opinion. Call this the view from the Phlipside

Now I know I just finished last year by wondering why I spent so much time talking about Twitter, the micro-blogging service that I'm not entirely sure I buy just yet. So naturally we will begin the New Year with....a program about Twitter.

But when I saw the folks over at buzzmarketing today had put together a list of the "10 Most Important Tweets of the Year" I just couldn't resist. Since I'm not sure it's possible to say something important in 140 characters I wanted to see if they could change my mind by showing me the light. So let's see what they have to offer.

Numbers 9 and 10 didn't do much for me. Number ten was a tweet from Google where they printed their catch phrase "I'm Feeling Lucky" in binary. If you're a computer code geek maybe that's cool. Number nine was from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg assuring everyone that yes it was really him. That was it. Let's see we also got a tweet from the Yankees victory parade by a player, we discovered that Oprah Winfrey is some kind of internet newb since her first tweet was IN ALL CAPS! A tweet from an astronaut and one from Ashton Kutcher. I'll admit there's only a subtle difference there. And at number one was a tweet from Barak Obama. From November of 2008. Ummm, isn't this the 2009 list? Yes it is, but apparently they couldn't come up with 10 that could even pretend to be important. And all of these so far are definitely pretenders to the crown.

Were there ANY tweets of any importance? Actually I'd give at least a probationary nod to three. All of them showed Twitter's ability to advance the concept of instant coverage of current events. These would be a tweet following the emergency plane landing in the Hudson river, Michael Jackson's death and news from inside Iran as anti-government forces protested and were being suppressed. To my amazement these three finished at numbers four, five and seven respectively. That put them behind the astronaut, Ashton Kutcher and the slightly out of date Obama tweets.

So those are the ten most important tweets of the year. At least according to one source. The latest update on show topics from The Phlipside didn't make it somehow. I'm rather astounded by that actually. Surely my withering analysis of the Jay Leno show deserved at least a mention. No? There is another possibility, of course. That Twitter really IS just a vehicle for minor marketing efforts and major ego massage.

Call that the view from the Phlipside

View From the Phlipside - Tweet Marriage

These are the scripts from my weekly media commentary program on WRFA-LP Jamestown

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, Radio, the movies and more. I love 'em and I hate em' and I always have an opinion. Call this the view from the Phlipside

Let's see, this story does in fact involve two different modern communication media. And it is about how and when and where we choose to use the media. They do figure prominently in the story, even though the story isn't REALLY about the media at all. What the story is REALLY about is stupidity. So that's probably more than enough reason for me to talk about it here.

Did you hear the story about the groom who updated his Facebook with a Tweet and made a video while he did it...IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CEREMONY?

Last month in Maryland a groom decided to have a little fun at his wedding. That, by the way, is his description of this whole incident. As the preacher got to the point where he declares the couple husband and wife our intrepid hero reached into this pocket and pulled out his smart phone. Then asked the preacher to hang on for a minute while he updated his relationship status on Facebook. I swear to you I'm not making this up, the video of it is on YouTube. He actually did it too, it takes him about 30 seconds to finish the task. At one point he reaches into his pocket and produces the bride's smart phone as well. Presumably to give her the chance to do the same thing.

The groom thinks people like me, who think that he's an idiot, are just a bunch of stuck up sticky beaks who don't know a good time when they see one. I'll grant him A: His new wife did not deck him, although to my eyes she is frozen in place and B: the assembled guests all seemed to take it in good humor. I was amazed to discover that he had let the preacher in on it BUT NOT HIS BRIDE! Astounding.

My bet is that she's accustomed to this kind of low rent humor from him and loves him anyway. Good for her. I just wonder if he really considered that for the love of his life this most wonderful day will now be forever remembered as the day he did the Facebook thing. That at the moment when they were pronounced joined in wedlock he went for the laugh. And oh yeah on the very first day of the rest of their lives together, during the most important moment of the day, he didn't bother to tell her what he was going to do.

In my humble opinion, with 27 years of marriage under my belt, not bright. Save it for the reception. And maybe start your marriage off with a little more dignity, a little more seriousness and a lot less stupidity.

Call that the view from the Phlipside