Twitter and Vegetarianism

I went to the gym today and picked up a magazine to read while I worked out on the elliptical. The cover story was about Twitter and how it was changing everything. I looked through some of the articles and realized that the magazine was a bit dated (about a year old). The article explained how Twitter is becoming a more efficient way of finding new information on topics than Google. Google's search engine is based on how popular a website is. If I search for articles, I'll get the top rated or viewed web page, but not necessarily the most up-to-date.

It explained how Twitter has changed based on the way that people use it. For example, users began using the #hashtag to mark topics that are popular or in the news. The more people put the #hashtag in front of a certain topic say, #worldcup, the more it becomes a Trending Topic. Currently, the top Global Trends are all soccer players...I think. The United States Trends are Edward Scissorhands, Paul McCartney, Argentina, World Cup and BET Awards. So, simply by looking at my Twitter page, I know that these things are happening and being talked about. I click on Edward Scissorhands and learn that some ass-hole is trying to do a re-make of Edward Scissorhands with that ass-hole from the Twilight movies Robert Pattinson and that people are pretty upset about it...as they should be. I learned that Paul McCartney is streaming a live show from London to benefit HIV research/prevention. Good on him. I learned that Argentina played Mexico in the World Cup and won 3-1. And that the BET Awards are tonight.

Would I have learned all of this on cnn.com, my usual destination for news? After much searching and sorting I might have, but not as quickly. I started thinking about the ways that I could use Twitter to find out more about the world. I mean, people are efficient search engines of the internet. They spend hours looking through web articles, blogs, web sites and essays. They love to share what they find and Twitter is a great outlet for that especially when it's something that they care about. FYI: since I wrote about the BET Awards, 60 more people have tweeted about them.

I haven't eaten meat in two weeks. My mom gave me some noodle salad with tuna which I ate, but that's about it. I knew my brother would have something to say about it. Mostly concerns about health. "You should consult a doctor to make sure your body doesn't react to not having meat. You need to do some research to make sure you're getting the right vitamins." He's right about that. Not that I'm going to consult a doctor. Why would I do that? The internet is full of articles about vegetarianism. I searched "vegetarianism" on Twitter and found 5 articles about people's questions about not eating meat. Many of them concerning ethical issues and many concerning health issues. Which is better for yourself and for the world?

Many people tweeted about how they just started their vegetarianism. Silentpad3d is "Considering calling off my vegetarianism for the bird that just shat on me." DrTwitterheimer said, "My response to the claim that vegetarianism is unnatural for humans is You're right. Go out, make a weapon and butcher animals for food" One woman posted a picture of her baked rigatoni with eggplant.

Then there were the articles that people had posted. Articles published in science and health journals, breaking down the benefits for not eating meat. Ethical, environmental, health, religious and economical reasons. There are forums, support groups and tons of information on it, including petitions to stop factory farming and force the government to hold certain corporations more accountable for their butchering practices.

So, within minutes, I'm connected to the network of vegetarians out there. People who are trying it for the first day, people who treat themselves by breaking their streak and eating meat, people who think it's ridiculous and pointless, people who want to share their recipes with people. Whereas, the top three sites on a Google search were: a Wikipedia article (obviously), Goveg.com which appears to be part information part PETA-type activism (with a McCruelty logo at the top of the page), then Kidshealth.org which features a brief article on the drawbacks and benefits of raising kids on a vegetarian diet. Which yielded the better results? Which one allowed me feel more connected to other people going through the same problems, questions and temptations? It's an interesting experiment nonetheless.

Next time you want to learn something about a subject try it. Search it on Twitter, then on Google and decide which one was more helpful.