Suppose Obama had to Twitter his speech: 140 characters?
Drilling into our online history of inaugurations, I learned that the shortest swearing-in speech was 133 words long. It was delivered by George Washington at his second inaugural.
The longest was William Henry Harrison at 8,445 words and nearly 2 hours in length. In a snowstorm. He died a month later. Of pneumonia.
I posted a query on Twitter earlier today musing about what would happen if Barack Obama had to Twitter his inaugural address. For those who don’t know, Twitter is an online networking service that allows members to exchange messages — but they’re limited to 140 characters in length.
So I wondered: What if he just wanted to post his address on Twitter. What would he say in less than 140 characters? Can you write his 140-character inaugural address? Only a few people have tried on Twitter so far…but if you try it there, please include the tag #bo140 so we can keep track of them.
suzyjax: My fellow Americans. Thank you very much. Now let’s go to work. (likely scenario due to freezing temps) #bo140
CICM: #bo140 We’re in bad straits, but if we work together on solutions, we can get through this and be better off on the other side.
jdubail: Obama’s shortest possible speech: How can I not look good after this guy?
Oh, and by the way, here’s my crack at it:
kgreenbaum: Friends, I’m honored & humbled by the noble task you’ve granted me. Let us now serve our country & live into our greatest potential. #bo140
Kurt is the director of social media for the Post-Dispatch, where he has worked since August 2002. He's been a journalist since 1982, covering municipal government, courts, education and two hurricanes as a reporter before becoming an editor. 
My Fellow Americans, Thank You. There’s a big mess here. I will work hard to fix it. Be strong, we can turn this around. God Bless America!
To “My Fellow Americans…” (the idiot, not the group of people)
You know, you are soooo right. White people in America like you and me have it so hard these days. Just think of the lasting effect that historical racism against whites has had on our opportunities in modern day America. Too bad those stuck up peer-review Sociology journals disagree with us.
Oh well, keep fighting the system!
#b0140 My fellow Americans, when I spoke of change, I meant coins in your pocket. You see, in order to pay for a 800 billion dollar stimulus package that may or may not help, the only way to pay for it is to raise most people’s taxes. That means that even the change in our pockets is not safe. When I said “We need change” I wasn’t kidding. I plan to buy our way out of this recession. Please keep your first-born on stand-by.
I had enough of his voice jammed down our throats during the campaign, I will just read his speech later.
My felow Americans Since i am useing the bible that lincon swore on I will not be able to acept any tickets for any upcoming plays on the balcony level. Please do feel free to awe at my pimped out cadie and the 8 million dollar spinners i bought. HOLLAR!
What idiot?
ticket punch,
Someone with the name “My Fellow Americans…” posted on the board with some racist banter. It was apparently deleted. My post was in response to his.
My fellow Americans,
With you being here today at my inauguration, your spending helps solve the recession. Therefore, I plan to be a tourist attraction to help that cause.
It seems there isn’t a new electronic media technology that isn’t immediately viewed as the sine qua non of “interconnectedness,” which is an uber-good we’re all supposed to want like hotcakes. Long, long ago it was America Online. Grandma’s car, in otherwords.
The idea of Twittering an inauguration speech is lot of adolescent chortle-snort thumb-twiddling (lookit this dude look).
You could put your time to better use. Obama, remember?
Yah yah blah blah: This post comes to you courtesy of the very technology criticized herein (so unfair!), Where’s The Love, etc.