CNN and Facebook are partnering to bring you live Inauguration coverage intermixed with Facebook status updates from your friends. It's a neat idea that we happen to love, but with Twitter becoming the standard source for live updates in many people's eyes, it begs the question: why did CNN choose to partner with Facebook over Twitter?
CNN will be live broadcasting the Inauguration from CNN Live headquaters, and they are completely redoing the page to incorporate Facebook status updates on the right hand side (see screen shot). Essentially, the idea is for you to be able to watch the Inauguration, to share your real-time thoughts, and simultaneously view what your Facebook friends are also saying. From the looks of it, all you will need to do is login to Facebook directly via the CNN Live page.
Apparently the marriage of live updates from CNN and friends is attracting plenty of attention, with the CNN Live Facebook Event page amassing upwards of 300,000 confirmed attendees. But what happened to Twitter, the trendy micro-blogging real-time news medium du jour that's already used extensively in CNN's programming? We have to wonder if this most recent news is a snub by CNN, or a maneuver by Facebook to supplant Twitter as a real-time news source in the hearts and minds of the mainstream mass.
Regardless of whether or not our suspicions are correct, the Facebook/CNN marriage seems like a smart move by both companies to ensure that all eyes (and status updates) are directed at the both of them.