Derek Fisher Twitter Updates Keep Fans in the Game

Derek Fisher of the L.A. Lakers was suspended for Friday night's game against Houston, but just because he wasn't at the game that didn't mean he couldn't keep fans updated on what the Lakers were doing. Fisher has been keeping Lakers fans on top of the action through his tweets on his Twitter account, www.twitter.com/derekfisher. The Derek Fisher Twitter page has attracted more than 26,000 followers to date.

Fisher was suspended for one game and will return to the Lakers to play in game 4, which takes place in Houston. And he won't be using Twitter while he's on the bench, you can be sure (a player tweeting from the bench because a controversy with a player on another NBA team earlier this season).

Oprah Winfrey to Land on Planet Twitter Friday

The talk of Twitter recently had been the ongoing battle between Ashton Kutcher (aplusk) and CNN Breaking News (cnnbrk) to see who could get to one million followers the first. But now the big news is that one of the world's biggest celebs, Oprah Winfrey, has joined the incredibly fast-growing microblogging service and is going to post her first "tweet" Friday, April 17th. You can find her at www.twitter.com/oprah.

As of Thursday night, Oprah's Twitter account has more than 50,000 followers, even though she hasn't posted a single comment yet. With the "O" joining the Twitterverse, will her familiar colleagues and feature be joining her in dispensing advice 140 characters at a time? If so, imagine the news Oprah's followers will be getting: Book reviews! Beauty and dating advice! Chatty insights about bowel movements from Dr. Oz!

It all could happen tomorrow, when The Big Oh lands on Planet Twitter...

Is Tweeting Getting Out of Hand? (And What is Tweeting, Anyway?)

If people talking on cell phones incessantly has caused a stir in society, tweeting is taking it to a whole new level. "Tweeting," in case you're not yet addicted to it, is the sending of short messages on the communications software Twitter. (The messages are called "tweets.")

Tweeting can be addictive, whether it's talking to friends or following celebrities who tweet, and that addictiveness is where some people feel it's gone too far. Prosecutors and police have cited numerous cases about jurors using Twitter (and other devices, like Web-enabled cell phones) to research information on a case on their own, in violation of judges' instructions not to discuss or investigate the case.

And just last week we heard of the first known case of an NBA basketball player tweeting during a game (though during halftime). Charlie Villanueva of the Milwaukee Bucks sent a tweet from the locker room during a game saying "Coach wants more toughness. I gotta step up." At least is was a positive message (as opposed to celebrity gossip), but the Coach was not impressed and has made the locker room a No-Tweeting zone.

Expect to see No-Tweeting rules in courtrooms, schools, and workplaces.