Twitter Etiquette in the Presence of the President
This week there has been a flutter of discussion on Twitter, blogs, and news shows about the etiquette of twittering while in the President’s presence. For those of you new to the story, this week during President Obama’s address to the nation some members of Congress sent Twitter messages while the President delivered his speech. For one Representative, it was a sum total of 19 tweets.
So, with the rapidly expanding phenomenon of Twitter’s micro-blogging, what is the etiquette of twittering when the President is talking in front of you?
My opinion is to give the President respectful attention and save the twittering for after the speech.
Certainly the technology is tantalizing and it’s fun to be the first to break the news. I use Twitter too. On the flip side, it takes time to look at others, to be aware of them, to acknowledge them, to show regard for them. In this case, I’ll take altruism over self-interest.
