This was an article I wrote in July 2010 for Richard Smart and Rick Martin’s trial website Tokyo Digital Journalism. The site has been relegated to obscurity, but I thought some folk might be interested in reading this story from the dawn of the Twitter age, when all seemed bright for microblogging. It still stands up, though the figure of 30,000 Twitter hits a second was in fact more like 3,000 in Japan, but I think the result would have remained the same. The referee’s decision is always final, after all.
In Japan, Twitter blew the print media away at the the World Cup. Now, before you get your vuvuzelas in a twist, let me make one thing clear: This is not a comprehensive round-up of the pros and cons of new media vs old media and the World Cup. Frankly, I don’t have the time or patience for that. No, this is instead a highly partial account of how I experienced the World Cup. But I’m not alone.
Team sheets: Old Media v. The Twitterati
Old Media: The veteran professionals. We’re talking newspaper, television and radio journos. They may be long in the tooth, but they are, well, veteran pros – reliable, knowledgeable and skillful, right?
The Twitterati: The unpaid, frequently unwashed, hoi poloi. Some have got blogs, but most just stutter three-letter words, and little else. Amateurs.
On paper, this should be a whitewash for the pros, right? After all, they have just as much ability to get on Twitter and blog and do their iPhone apps and whatnot. And be oh-so-professional too. I mean, c’mon even The Daily Yomiuri’s reporter in South Africa was on Twitter. He had old media access and new media tools. Game over before it began, right? Er, not exactly.
Patrick Sherriff 