A Tale of Two Panels – What You Are Missing When Panels Start Tweeting Back at Their Audiences

It can be pretty entertaining to read tweets from the audience members of panels as they happen.  They can help spread what is happening to interested people who aren’t able to attend, add context or an additional angle to panelists’ points, or they can be snarky, hilarious, and even “tweckle” what is being said out loud (we’ll get into tweckling later).

But what about panelists tweeting back at audience members at the same time they’re answering questions – engaging both in person and online simultaneously?  Does it add value, will we lose focus, or can we learn and have some fun at the same time?  On Monday, at the Politics Online conference the Will Old Media Paradigms Shift Into the New Media World? panel (which was lived-blogged by Writes Like She Talks’ Jill Miller Zimon luckily) was a perfect location to examine the idea: a mix of reporters, bloggers and social media experts discussing journalism’s adaptation to the online political space – and all of them on twitter…

The discussion, moderated by Change.org’s Women’s Rights / NMS’s own Jen Nedeau (aka @humanfolly), and began online with how they normally enough do from the panel with Time’s Karen Tumulty (aka @ktumulty) tweeting “Heading over to do a new media panel with @MIsif @vermontgmg and @aterkel,”  and similarly with  techPresident’s Micah Sifry (aka @Mlsif) tweeting “I see @katieharbath, @acarvin, @mturk, @annacurran, @shaundakin in the room. Hello peeps! #polc09.” 

The audience also began tweeting as you might expect as well, with Road Kill Refugee (aka @rkref) commenting “Karen Tumulty says HuffPo's biz model, with volunteer writers, is giving old media sleepless nights. #polc09.,” Benjamin Barnett (aka @PoliticiansTV) commenting “We are seeing a move to professionalism by bloggers. Old media has vastly improved. Amanda Terkel #polc09 #media,” and Katie Harbath (aka @katieharbath) tweeting “Consensus of panel is that its good that new media has challenged old media to change and adapt. #polc09.”

And while discussion commenced, the audience began tweeting back and forth with the panel.  Michael Turk (@MichaelTurk) started with “@mlsif Tweeting from the panel. Nice! Good to see you, too. #polc09” and was followed by @Mlsif “@michaelturk If you manage to mention the Dean Campaign during the session, I'll drink a glass of water.”

But not all of it was humorous or heckling or just blindly shooting tweets off into the interwebs.  Andy Carvin (@acarvin), asking about the source of information a panel member used, tweeted “@aterkel just whipped out some digital divide stats re: online use and participation. Not sure of source. Pew? #polc09,”  and was later answered by Amanda Terkel (@aterkel) who tweeted “@acarvin Yep -- those were Pew #s! #POLC09.”

So tweeting at panel members from the audience does seem to be able to yield substantive communication in return.  But what about panel members tweeting at each other during the session?  Well, Micah Sifry asked the question directly: “@ktumulty, can we tweet to each other while on the same panel? #polc09” to be followed by Karen Tumulty’s from the panel answer “@Mlsif that feels vaguely subversive.”

Maybe it is subversive if they are tweeting about the panel’s topic when it is not in regards to a prior tweet from an audience member who is paying attention causing the in person audience to miss out on the dialog.  Scary territory I know.   But keep in mind, early experiments have already yielded great new media products – such as debates where questions are submitted via twitter and YouTube (see next Wednesday’s Virginia Democratic Gubernatorial Debate being hosted by @notlarrysabato as an example).  

For now I say let the panels and audience tweet as they may – rules and restrictions are not what this crowd is about.  It’s worth keeping an eye on I think, because sometimes, what is really scary, is what happens on its own:

acarvin -  “I believe I've heard @mlsif's first name _and_ last name butchered in the last 10 mins. #polc09”

Mlsif – “@acarvin: I believe I've heard @mlsif's first name _and_ last name butchered in the last 10 mins. #polc09 (Welcome to my life!)”

MichaelTurk  - “@acarvin you have. Everyone on the panel that's not @vermontgmg has pronounced @mlsif's name differently. #polc09”

ktumulty – “@MichaelTurk me too!”

acarvin – “@michaelturk: I smell a meme. Here's my contribution: Mykay Seefry. #ButcherMlsifsName #polc09”

MichaelTurk – “@HumanFolly I have a question for Mikhail Snufry. "Do you see the Dean campaign as a major turning point in New Media?"”

And…

ktumulty – “it WAS funny. RT @rkref Funny moment at end of last #polc09 session. @ktumulty says "OMG, Roadkill Refugee is tweeting this panel! ...!"

MichaelTurk – “Currently waiting to Tweckle a panel specifically convened to take questions from noobs about politics/tech. Good material waiting. #polc09”