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Rumpus Book ClubDavid Pogue to compile a book of 200,000 twitter responses, borrow six word memoir idea
As an example of the efficacy of Twitter, New York Times columnist David Pogue twittered a request for puns, he got some great replies:
- I used to work at an orange juice factory, but they canned me because I couldn’t concentrate. (@alancshaw)
- She was only a moonshiner’s daughter, but I loved her still. (@matthewdooley)
- Two TV installers met on a roof and fell in love. The wedding ceremony wasn’t so great… but wow, the reception! (@marqueO)
Then, he asked for a caption for a picture of a squirrel poking its head into a jar of peanut butter.
- Dude! I think it’s some kind of stargate! (@rationalorder)
- You kids have it so easy. Back in my day, we foraged and stored nuts for the winter! (@CathleenRitt)
- NYTimes Special Report: HOUSING CRISIS HITS SQUIRREL COMMUNITY HARD (@r1goff)
Then he asked for the best advice we ever got from our parents. But those responses turned out to be kind of worthless. Nonetheless they convinced him to publish a book of 200,00 twitter responses to questions like:
- What’s your greatest regret?
- Sum up your life story in six words.
- Tell us about your wedding proposal.
Whoah, wait a moment, that second idea has already been done. I mean, you can’t really ask for six word memoirs without crediting SMITHMAG, can you? (I wrote David Pogue to ask about this and he responded that he got the idea from The Six Word Memoir series, but was considering dropping the idea because he didn’t want people to think he was ripping them off. I assured him that people would indeed think that unless he credited them.)
In describing his book Pogue writes,
“The World According to Twitter will be a charming, irresistible, extremely hilarious little book, a book that couldn’t be written in any other way. (true on that last part)
If I publish one of your tweets, I’ll send you a free copy of the book, inscribed to you personally. I’ll also credit your response in the book, using your Twitter name. (Don’t come crying to me if you suddenly pick up hundreds of new followers!)
So that’s it: a challenge, a ride, a crazy experiment.
Let the communal book-writing begin!”
May 15th, 2009 at 9:30 am
There are actually two references to six-word memoirs in my similar book, “Twitter Wit.” It’s an irresistible format.
May 15th, 2009 at 9:56 am
Do you credit SMITHMAG?
May 15th, 2009 at 10:31 am
interesting idea/concept!