Death by Twitter – Part Deux

The news of Osama Bin Laden’s death is the biggest story of the year and the report of his death came in less than 140 characters via Twitter!  Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's chief of staff, Keith Urbahn tweeted “So I'm told by a reputable person they have killed Osama Bin Laden. Hot damn.”  And that was it.  This tweet will most likely be in future history books.  Did Keith Urbahn have any idea what impact this tweet would have on the world?  I guess only he can answer that question.


Even more chilling are the tweets below from a witness who was reporting the raid unknowingly.  There are no secrets anymore.  Forget the government... we are all big brother!

MADE BY DWC – FIRST SOCIAL ENTERPRISE STORE AND CAFÉ IN SKID ROW – OPENS AT DOWNTOWN WOMEN’S CENTER FRIDAY, APRIL 29TH

MADE by DWC, a café and gift-boutique offering handmade products created by the women of Downtown Women’s Center, the only organization exclusively serving homeless women in Skid Row, officially opens on Friday, April 29^th. 

The first of its kind in downtown Los Angeles, MADE by DWC was created to break the cycle of poverty and chronic unemployment by helping low-income and homeless women discover their talents and develop their skills through job readiness training and product development opportunities.  100 percent of the proceeds go directly to supporting homeless and low-income women at DWC.  MADE by DWC will be open Tuesday – Friday 8am to 4pm and Saturday 10am to 3pm.  

For more information:


 www.madebydwc.org

 

WHEN:            Friday, April 29^th

WHERE:           438 S. San Pedro Street (at 5^th St.)

Limited metered parking on San Pedro Street in front of DWC; nearest parking lot is Joe’s Auto Park on San Pedro Street between 2^nd & 3^rd Streets

 

Death by Twitter

How is it that a career can live or die in 140 characters?  In the last few months we have seen several celebrities torpedo (to use a Charlie Sheen phrase) their own careers in as little as 1 tweet.  Recently American Psycho author, Bret Easton Ellis dropped the Twitter bomb "I like the idea of 'Glee' but why is it that every time I watch an episode I feel like I've stepped into a puddle of HIV?" I have a feeling his book sales are going to be dropping faster than his tweets.

Gilbert Gottfried is another casualty when he was fired as the spokesperson of Aflac after he tweeted extremely horrible jokes after the tragic earthquake and tsunami hit Japan.  Even though he took them down and apologized... death by Twitter.

Today films, actors, books and music all live and die by public opinion.  Because of social media, the media has lost control of the media.  I was having a conversation with a prominent reporter the other day who was upset because her paper's website allows comments under her articles and people... oh my gosh wait for it... have different opinions than she does!

And then there's Charlie Sheen.  He is the exception to the rule... every rule has one.  His #winning, #TigersBlood and #troll rants should have brought him down, but it revived his spiraling career for a tour of crazy!  Unfortunately some of the stuff he said and tweeted about Warners, CBS and Chuck Lorre have made his chances of returning to Two and a Half Men a million to one, but he managed to grab the public.

And that's the secret to social media.  It's not some deep rooted mystery.  It's about grabbing the attention of the public and well, entertaining them.

The rest:
Taco Bell = death by Twitter
Dominos = death by YouTube via Twitter (to be revived by new recipe)

Lindsey Lohan = multiple deaths by Twitter (Twitter zombie)

Chris Brown = death by Twitter (and his general craziness)