Finance with a modern flare, welcome to the Twitteratti

U.S. finance is becoming increasingly more modern. And with good reason. I went to the Mortgage Bankers Association Quality Assurance & Residential Underwriting Conference last week in Grapevine, Texas, where I was the youngest attendee by over a decade. I found it interesting (and fun!), but I work for a mortgage finance magazine. It’s practically a credential around here. It got me thinking — how do you engage young adults around the country in what’s going on with government policy and financial reform when most of them find it boring or distant? The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas found a way…Twitter. The same day I was at the conference, the Dallas Fed started tweeting about financial happenings locally and nationally. Even if you don’t ‘Follow’ the Dallas Fed, Twitter makes unexpected Tweets readily available through Retweets. Essentially, if someone you Follow, Follows the Fed, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll get a random tidbit about what it’s doing. That’s where I come in. I am one of the newest members to the HousingWire staff and fairly new to the industry. Everyone at work calls me “the newbie.” Since my career is just beginning, I thought it would be a great idea to document it and give HousingWire readers insight into the personality of the newsroom. What I write is not my opinion. What I tweet, however, is my journey. I Follow the Dallas Fed; I Follow the San Francisco Fed; I even Follow Barack Obama on Twitter. If you’re looking to stay updated on mortgage finance with flare, Follow me on this wild ride. It began on July 21, 2010. No joke, that was my first day at HousingWire. Follow HWnewbieCR or write to Christine Ricciardi.