Well sort of. What it has actually done is ban the updating of status or profile on social networks for the duration any NFL game and 90 minutes either side, a move meant to protect  proprietary information such as the score. Fair enough one might say, except this ban does not just cover players but also any of their third party representatives and the media.

In it’s own words the NFL said

“Longstanding policies prohibiting play-by-play descriptions of NFL games in progress apply fully to Twitter and other social media platforms,…Internet sites may not post detailed information that approximates play-by-play during a game.”

You may recall that Premier Football also made moves to protect its proprietary information earlier this year by issuing cease and desist notices to blogs that provided fixtures lists and live match updates, but that covered the wild frontier of the blogosphere, not established media outfits. While the banning of players, officials and representatives is covered by a, probably unenforceable, social media policy, one would think that trying to stifle the press would be directly against the First Amendment which prohibits the infringement of both free speech and the freedom of the press. Of course it is possible that the press will welcome this move as a way of also protecting its role as provider of the latest and most detailed sports news.

It has been suggested by some that this latest clampdown has been instigated by Chad Ochocinco, wide receiver for the Bengals, who has something of a twitter addiction. It was his sideline tweeting that seemed to get tweeting banned during games by players. Now he has been planning to tweet from the sidelines by having a competition winner sat in the crowd make the updates for him after interpreting pre-arranged hand signals, although the clip of Ochocinco talking about the contest on his uStream show on 26th August seems to have been pulled.

The Bengal’s first match is against the Denver Broncos on Sunday 13th Sept at 1300, local time, which surely will be the first test of the NFL’s new policy, might be time to switch to watching another oddly-shaped-ball game.

At Westminster today, the House of Commons is electing a new speaker following the increasingly hilarious decline of Michael Martin. Of course, things are a little different these days and Twitter – as if we wouldn’t have guessed – is playing a part in proceedings.

Public figures, by and large, are pretty terrible at Twitter and offer almost no value to followers. Richard Bacon, for example, obsesses to the point of madness about Twitter but essentially contributes nothing to the community. Proper celebrities, on the other hand, might as well ring my doorbell and tell me what they’re up to in person – I still wouldn’t care.

But some Members of Parliament are making a decent fist of things and seem to have developed a knack of actually saying something worthwhile. Rather than punting out platitudes, a selection of tweeting MPs have today actually given some insight into what’s happening behind the scenes at an important political event. I know from experience that the Houses of Parliament aren’t exactly a thrill a minute, but today’s vote will have repercussions and it’s great to get little morsels of insider info.

In truth, much of what’s being tweeted by our representatives is hardly breaking anything we can’t find out ourselves by switching on BBC Parliament, but the veneer of opinion adds a fascinating element. The easy way to follow comments now that a hashtag seems to have finally been settled upon is by watching #newspeaker.

So what are our esteemed representatives saying, and why does it matter?

Some, like Kerry McCarthy, are giving us commentary with plenty of side. Cracking stuff:

“The first of the Sir Alans is on. The Lib Dem variety. Dull. #newspeaker Now it’s Bercow. “Speaker should be virtually senile”, he was told.”

Jim Knight is following a similar approach:

“Beckett setting out her stall – experience, capable of implementing change, stateswoman, Parliamentarian … Tempting”

I’m proud to say that my local MP, Sadiq Khan, made his vote public and denounced tribal politics during moments of constitutional importance:

“Election of new Speaker today – I’ll be voting for John Bercow. As I said on the Politics Show, this is not a time for tribal politics…”

Even better, two tweeting Toms, Harris and Watson, have provided interesting insight into today’s Parliamentary procedure and linked it into blog posts and pictures, including this display of Tom Harris’ culinary preferences by his Watson-based namesake.

I suppose the fact that these people actually matter is the difference between their mundane tweets and the mundane tweets of Ashton bloody Kutcher. I don’t care what Kutcher is discussing over lunch, but for some reason it’s more interesting when the topic is one which matters. I like knowing that MPs chat about this stuff over lunch. I like that they share their opinions with us and, by and large, engage better with the ensuing discussion than proper slebs.

So take note, celebrities and brands. As far as you’re concerned, Twitter is about furnishing us with background details to which we ordinarily have no access. That is where the value can be added: in the complementary context behind events of genuine interest or importance. Not that you’re having a cup of tea with Danny Wallace.

I’ve read enough ghost stories to know that when you disturb a buried skull whose previous owner died a violent death, you’d better put that thing back where it came from and walk away, lest you leave the surrounding area with a screaming skull. Or something. So when I read about the discovery of a mass grave in Dorset, not far from where I grew up, I posted a throwaway tweet about how I wouldn’t live anywhere near it unless they were left alone.

The bodies, and their separate skulls, were unearthed on Ridgeway Hill – in the shadow of Europe’s largest Iron Age hill fort, Maiden Castle – during preparation work on the Weymouth relief road, which is being built for the 2012 Olympics (Weymouth’s hosting some of the water-based events). And little did I know when I posted my facetious tweet that I’d soon be writing the road’s blog up as a potentially good case study in local council engagement. Spooky, huh?

That’s right, tarmac fans – the Weymouth Relief Road has its very own blog! Large road developments like this one are notoriously difficult in terms of opposition, nimbyism and even protest, though I’ve heard of no protests against the £87m road in Dorset.

As a result, engaging with local residents is desirable and beneficial. And as Andy Ackerman, Dorset County Council’s head of highways, noted to the BBC, a blog is one tool which can be used to do so. The public, says Ackerman, wants its information in different ways.

Click here to view the Weymouth Relief Road blog.

This case study is slightly unusual in that it will sing the praises of a blog which is just three posts and 10 days old. How much content is posted, and how much success it has, remains to be seen over time. But the theory behind aspects of the blog is sound.

Why so good?

There are many things I like about this blog. It’s on WordPress, not tacked onto the council’s website like some forgotten add-on. This helps to increase the council’s digital footprint and also encourages proper integration into the rest of the web, though this does not happen automatically. The tone, so vitally important to a good blog, seems personable and easy-going. For a blog covering important but painfully dull content, that’s essential.

Part of the integration into the social web involves hosting relevant content on social sites. While I’m not entirely convinced that Dorset’s residents will be overly interested in photos or videos of digging, but the technique here is excellent. Widgets have been placed on the blog showing Flickr photos and Vodpod videos, and linking to the relevant Flickr and Vodpod channels. Again, this creates an extended footprint and better social web integration. It also provides a path to the council’s other photos and videos.

In blogging, brevity is a virtue (and is something I’m bloody awful at). So far, the posts on the relief road blog have been brief and to the point. That’s a good thing for readers, particularly when the content is potentially so dry – pineapples excluded.

Any problems?

All is not perfect, however, and there are some recommendations I’d make to improve the blog. It could, for example, link to a selection of local blogs – I’ve not checked, but I can guarantee a few will exist. A more prominent RSS link would be advisable, as would a named author (for transparency purposes and also to encourage readers to relate to a human).

In my opinion, posting should be more regular. Even on a day when there is nothing to relate, rich content can be used to keep the site ticking over. A 30-second daily video of the construction work, or a brief slideshow of progress, would augment the occasional commentary and let visitors know that the blog remains alive.

All of this assumes a certain level of budget – not huge, but still possibly prohibitive – behind the project. Having said that, if someone is on-site anyway then shooting a minute of footage with a Flip camera isn’t a lot to ask. Top-level buy-in would be a perhaps insurmountable issue.

On top of all that, this blog must be promoted offline.

Uncertainty

Of course, it’s possible that this post is about a blog which dies a sudden and unnoticed death. But the framework is there for a good project and the thinking behind it is similar to my own. It will be interesting to see how it develops over the coming weeks.