Senator Patrick Leahy will have a critical role in the selection of the
next Supreme Court justice. On the next Vermont Edition, we talk
with Leahy about the kind of nominee he hopes the president will choose,
and what this decision means for the future of the court.
Also, tweet tweet! The word "Twitter" has taken root in our modern lexicon with
millions of people using the free online service to send personal
messages far and wide. We dive into the Twitter community in our region
and learn how people are using the service for serious and social
purposes, and why the public platform of Twitter is attractive to its
users.
Twitter: the basic terms
Tweet: This is the name of a message or post on Twitter. Tweets are limited to 140 characters.
Retweet (RT): When a user reposts someone else’s Tweet, it’s called a Retweet. It is preceded by "RT" then the original writer’s name, then the post.
Username (@): Folks on Twitter sign up with a username. VPR’s username is "vprnet" and usernames are usually preceded with the "@". Twitter users often list their Twitter address in that format, e.g. @vprnet is the VPR Twitter account.
Reply/Mention (@username): originally called ‘replies’, now called ‘mentions’, this refers to a Tweet with a username in the message. For example, someone might Tweet "I love the link you just posted @vprnet". Using the reply/mention directs the Tweet at a particular user, although the message is still public for anyone to read.
Direct Message: this is used to send private messages from one user to another. Direct Messages are not publicly visible, they are private like an email.
Hash Tags (#): Hash tags are phrases, preceded by the ‘#’ symbol. They are a voluntary mechanism used to group Tweets by topic and make like Tweets easier to find. For example, Twitter users are using the tag "#swineflu" to label any posts related to the H1N1 Flu. Popular regional tags include #BTV (Burlington) and #VT (Vermont); VPR uses the tag #VPR.