In light of Jeff and Mike’s recent posts about Twitter, I thought it fitting to explain how I’ve been using Twitter to research Government 2.0. 

If you want to follow me, my Twitter name is @A_Marsh.  You’ll notice that 3/4 of my posts are very short comments designed to entice followers to click through on links I’ve provided (many of which are in the Wikinomics theme).  Essentially, I use Twitter as a gateway to substantive content, a style of Tweeting that Denis blogged about previously. 

As far as using Twitter as a research tool, I generally follow other user who also use it as a gateway to more substantive content.  For me, Twitter is something like a news condenser, or a filter.  I’ve handpicked a series of intelligent users to follow on Twitter, users who filter through the glut of information available on the web, and highlight what they believe to be the most useful and important.  If you pick out the right users to follow, it can be akin to having an entire team of researchers working for you, pro-bono and in realtime.

So here’s two examples of how I’ve used Twitter to stay up to date on developments in the world of Government 2.0.

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