Twitter, gay rights and controlling the message

Posted: 22 Apr 2009 05:30 PM PDT

While Twitter has taken the world by storm and we've talked about using social media for LGBT organizing, I'd like to expand the topic just a bit. I'd like to delve into how our community is getting its news and information - and how can we harness that to get our message into the broader mainstream consciousness?
To the right is a screenshot of my Twitter client (TweetDeck). I have a regular search for the word "LGBT" so I can catch items I may have missed, find new people to follow, and generally see what's buzzing at any given moment.
When I grabbed this, these were the last few tweets that included "LGBT."
2 tweets about Miss California
2 tweets about LGBT health care
1 tweet about gay marriage
1 tweet about Angie Zapata

Looks similar to the front page of most major LGBT blogs, right?
Let's examine the Angie Zapata tweet a little closer; it's actually a "retweet" - someone forwarding on a posting. In this case, I posted a link to Mercedes' "Disposable" post originally, Join The Impact retweeted it, another user retweeted that and then Projector Kelli Busey retweeted that user. What I typed has been passed on to over 7100 people of all sexual orientations and gender identities in less than a half an hour. Details and a breakdown after the jump.
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Fonte: The Bilerico Project Report