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Twitter Really Has It Going On For Real-time News!

By Barbara Altieri

Real Estate Agent with Better Homes and Gardens RE Shore and Country Properties RES.0781237

January 29, 2011 05:14 AM

Twitter Really Has It Going On For Real-time News!

Got up this morning and went to check my phone as usual for overnight emails. Uh..oh. Nothing since late last night. Ok. This has happened before. Just shut the phone off and bring it back up, and the emails should come in. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

I checked my email settings and noticed that I couldn't connect to the Blackberry mail server. Hmm..Ok. I can get on the internet, I can get my emails downloaded to my desktop, I can see the emails on my company server software, so it's definitely related to Blackberry.

What do I do? Well the typical. Take the battery out. Take the sim card out. Restart. And....nothing. Went through this drill 3x. Sent multiple test messages.

Ok. Time to search around on the internet. I found ONE comment on a forum indicating someone was having the same problem.

Twitter for realtime news Have to call AT&T. Long wait in the queue. THEN, I thought, I should check Twitter.

So, I searched ‘Blackberry outage' and low and behold, I found my answer.

There was a nationwide outage, lots of complaining, BUT I knew I was not alone AND I could stop spinning my wheels and wasting time trying to get my phone to work. I was really surprised at the number of tweets and the detail in them.

I should have thought of checking Twitter first, but you know how you think it's YOUR problem first and you try to fix it? ....when in reality you have nothing to do with it as it's a system problem?

Live and learn....Checking Twitter as soon as I knew I had an issue would have saved me a LOT of time earlier. Twitter really has it going on for realtime news!

Have to run....my phone is dinging like crazy now!

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Barbara Altieri

Better Homes and Gardens RE Shore and Country Properties - Shelton, CT

REALTOR-Fairfield County CT Homes/Condos For Sale

Michele -- I am not a big user by any means. This time, though, I was getting so frustrated and had already wasted so much time that I thought I'd give it a try and it told me exactly what was happening. Where else would I get that up-to-the minute info?

Stacey -- You're right about the shredding part. LOL

Craig -- Yes...the silence! No notifications at all. I did have it happen a few times before and just turning off the phone solved the problem. Not this time. I wasted way too much before I used Twitter to help me out.

Gary -- I think this is the first time I ever searched like that. I always go to Google and end up on some news feed. But that info is not to the second like Twitter is!

Margaret -- I remember hearing the same story from others. I do post articles, blog posts, mortgage rates, listings, open houses etc. However, I don't go crazy on it and I have not had anyone tell me they found me on Twitter! But who knows who's reading?

Peggy -- You're much smarter. I did all the geeky things first because I thought it was my phone as it has been acting up somewhat in the last few days. When nothing was working and I isolated it to incoming email only, I knew it wasn't my problem and Twitter validated that very quickly. Next time -- and I know there will be a next time -- I will just go to Twitter directly.

Jan 29, 2011 09:47 AM

George Souto

George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages - Middletown, CT

Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert

Barbara, that is interesting. I don't use Twitter much, but it is nice to know that they can be a source of instant information.

Jan 29, 2011 11:18 AM

Barbara Altieri

Better Homes and Gardens RE Shore and Country Properties - Shelton, CT

REALTOR-Fairfield County CT Homes/Condos For Sale

Hi George -- I don't use it much either. I rarely check the feeds of those who I follow. I was pleasantly surprised today when I did the search and found what I needed to know...within seconds.

Jan 29, 2011 12:58 PM

Gail Robinson

William Raveis Real Estate - Southport, CT

CRS, GRI, e-PRO Fairfield County, CT

Barbara - That's the first good use for Twitter I've heard. For breaking news it can't be beat. I'll try using it like a Google search next time. Brilliant!

Jan 29, 2011 03:59 PM

Barbara Altieri

Better Homes and Gardens RE Shore and Country Properties - Shelton, CT

REALTOR-Fairfield County CT Homes/Condos For Sale

Gail -- IT certainly worked for me and my situation. I wish I had done it first before I wasted so much time thinking it was my phone. Now I know.

Jan 30, 2011 04:08 AM

Gail Robinson

William Raveis Real Estate - Southport, CT

CRS, GRI, e-PRO Fairfield County, CT

Barbara - I loved your post so much I reblogged it! Thank you.

Jan 31, 2011 01:02 PM

Barbara Altieri

Better Homes and Gardens RE Shore and Country Properties - Shelton, CT

REALTOR-Fairfield County CT Homes/Condos For Sale

Gail -- That's so nice of you. Thank you! Funny. I was thinking of you early this morning as I was driving on Fairfield Ave. through Black Rock headed to Fairfield. There was SO much traffic and issues as Ffld Ave had cars parked in the right lane due to the massive snowpiles. I was thinking it was probably beautiful down by St. Mary's.

Jan 31, 2011 01:18 PM

Denise Roberts

New Colony Properties, LLC - Pinehurst, NC

e-PRO, REALTOR - Specializing in Pinehurst, NC Area

Barbara - I'm very new to Twitter...just setup an account in January. I'm still learning how to use it. It really IS 'Breaking News'....good point you make in your post! Have a good evening!

Feb 01, 2011 11:28 AM

Barbara Altieri

Better Homes and Gardens RE Shore and Country Properties - Shelton, CT

REALTOR-Fairfield County CT Homes/Condos For Sale

Denise -- I rarely use Twitter for purposes of searching anything. This time, though, it was like a light bulb going off in my head. I found what I was looking for....within a few seconds. Works for me!

Feb 01, 2011 12:46 PM

Karen Bernetti

Southington, CT

For those who don't have a use for Twitter - I think you just found a good one (of many)

Feb 01, 2011 03:54 PM

Barbara Altieri

Better Homes and Gardens RE Shore and Country Properties - Shelton, CT

REALTOR-Fairfield County CT Homes/Condos For Sale

Karen -- Funny, I didn't really have much use for it myself. I'll be sure to use it in a situation like this again.

Feb 02, 2011 01:58 AM

Pat Haddad, ABR, CRS, ePRO, GRI

Keller Williams Indianapolis Metro NE - Carmel, IN

Carmel, Fishers, Westfield IN Real Estate Expert

Barbara--I keep thinking of Twitter as a way to promote myself. I never think of it as a tool for me! Your post has changed my thinking and I think this will be a huge help. Thanks for pointing out the obvious, that is not so obvious to most of us!!

Feb 02, 2011 10:01 AM

Barbara Altieri

Better Homes and Gardens RE Shore and Country Properties - Shelton, CT

REALTOR-Fairfield County CT Homes/Condos For Sale

Hi Pat -- I thought of Twitter as a promotion/advertising tool also. As I can attest, you never know what you can find on Twitter.

Feb 02, 2011 10:14 AM

Endre Barath, Jr.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties - Beverly Hills, CA

Realtor - Los Angeles Home Sales 310.486.1002

Barbara, what a great use of Twitter as well as what a great post about it. I have become so used to the gaps of two three hours that I can in my sleep take out the battery,sim card. I am at the point where I know how to manage connections then go to advanced options....:))) Never in a million years did I think of using Twitter, thank you for sharing.

Feb 04, 2011 10:57 AM

Barbara Altieri

Better Homes and Gardens RE Shore and Country Properties - Shelton, CT

REALTOR-Fairfield County CT Homes/Condos For Sale

Endre -- I didn't think of it either. I was so frustrated having gone through multiple battery pullouts and restarts, then, I really don't know why, I decided to try Twitter. Within seconds I learned that it wasn't me -- it was the network.

Feb 04, 2011 01:27 PM

Georgie Hunter R(S) 58089

Hawai'i Life Real Estate Brokers - Haiku, HI

Maui Real Estate sales and lifestyle info

That's interesting! I didn't realize that Blackberry users are all tied into one big network, that can fail! Good thing you checked it out on Twitter. That's really a great place to find out what's happening RIGHT NOW.

Feb 12, 2011 10:58 AM

Barbara Altieri

Better Homes and Gardens RE Shore and Country Properties - Shelton, CT

REALTOR-Fairfield County CT Homes/Condos For Sale

Georgina -- I was just about to throw my phone out the window when I checked Twitter and found it wasn't my phone after all. Wish I did (thought of) it sooner.

Feb 12, 2011 01:52 PM

Todd Clark - Retired

eXp Realty LLC - Tigard, OR

Principle Broker Oregon

That is how I found out what was going on recently when Activerain was acting up as well and within Minutes of putting @Activerain they had responded to me. (It was nice)