Poynter launched its Twitter account with a tweet that was the social-media version of a mic check.
Just set up this Twitter account. Now learning how to use it.
— Poynter (@Poynter) August 23, 2007
And now almost six-and-a-half years later, we’ve passed 100,000 followers.
But identifying that 100,000th follower was tricky — follower lists are not static. One strong candidate: Kodast Media out of South Kurdistan. Alas, Kodast Media hasn’t started tweeting yet, and we couldn’t figure out contact info from the Facebook page to which kodast.com redirects, so we have decided to designate, somewhat arbitrarily, our 100,000th follower as Dan Corcoran, a reporter at WPTV in West Palm Beach, Fla., who clicked “Follow” at roughly the same time.
- Dan Corcoran
Reached by phone, Corcoran said social media “wasn’t always at the forefront of my day and my life, but basically that’s changed.” When he’s got a break in his day, he likes to kick back with a cup of coffee and spend five minutes checking out Twitter on his phone. Corcoran said he follows “anyone from Miley Cyrus to President Barack Obama,” and is “always looking for new people to follow.” That includes, he said, everyone “from politicians and companies to leaders of the community to people who have a well-respected name.”
Is that why you followed Poynter? we asked. “I figured I couldn’t go wrong clicking on you guys,” said Corcoran, who with that comment earned himself a gift package of Poynter goodies.
A little more about Corcoran: He’s a native of Massachusetts who has worked in Eugene, Ore., and Manchester, N.H., before heading to West Palm Beach, where he enjoys mingling with transplants from the Northeast as well as Sunshine State lifers. When reporting, he tries to find “the person who is feeling the impact of the story.” Sometimes those folks contact the station but usually “it is us digging and finding people, or soliciting help thru social media,” he said. “We do that more often now.”
Corcoran said he “may not have as many million followers as Miley Cyrus, but I hope to get more.” And to that end, Poynter wholeheartedly encourages you to consider following our newest follow, @DanCorcoranWPTV.
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