News travels fast these days. Sometimes it mainlines onto Facebook for friends and family to see, share and discuss. And more often than not, it bubbles up on Twitter, where news often becomes news before it becomes news.

Rockland politics and issues surface daily on any number of Twitter feeds, as does news from Albany, Ramapo, area Patches, and even Harmony Hall and the Ramapo Saltbox, compliments of @Sloatsburgny. From information on local and state budgets to event promotions and weather warnings, area reporters and other content producers throughout the region use Twitter to tease and tell followers important information in that unique, abbreviated, hyper-linked format.

Another rising Rockland voice has joined the fray. An old communications pro at a still relatively young age, Ryan Karben is fast finding footing as a curator and commentator on the disparate cultural and political threads at work throughout the county.

“I care a huge amount about Rockland County’s sense of community,” said Karben, onetime Rockland political wunderkind. “As time has gone on, I have found that the county has become more and more balkanized and that saddens me a great deal. And one of the things that I try to do is weave those threads together in my commentary.”

Karben currently curates a blend of community events and politics on Twitter that ranges from local village potlucks all the way to Albany political back room budget deals — a contribution that is gaining currency for its style of straight talk and insider knowledge.

“It’s a different voice for me,” Karben said. “It’s going from being an advocate and campaigner to more of an observer. Twitter is an opinion multiplier,” he said, meaning posts can be picked up and passed around with astounding speed. Karben’s copy can be found @RKarben, where he tweets on any number of subjects throughout the day, from Albany marijuana law reforms and East Ramapo school issues to problems facing suburban voters in Rockland County — much of the commentary and reporting done in pithy tweet talk, an art form in itself.

“I get feedback from people who are not on Twitter who tell me, oh, I heard you were writing about this or I heard you were writing about that. So, I think it’s an interesting entry point into the conversation that the community is having. And so much of the conversation in the community is online these days.”

Twitter is viewed by many as a social network medium but actually serves as a constant communication stream of information that resembles a conversation. It’s been at the forefront of revolutions — think the Green uprisings in the Middle East. And much closer to home, Twitter is used by many Rockland politicos and community activists, from the village level all the way up to Albany.

“You chime in on hundreds of different conversations,” Karben said. “I’m really trying to be a service to the public, to try to offer my perspective for whatever’s it’s worth on the issues that are facing the community that I love,” he said.

F. Scott Fitzgerald famously said, “There are no second acts in American lives.” But that can’t be true. Unless people want it to be.

Karben at one time was on the fast elevator to the top floor. College, law school, elected office, young family, all practically before he was 21 years old. Elected to the County Legislature in 1997, and still the youngest person to ever hold that position, Karben was selected as majority leader before the age of 30. He then moved up to the New York State Assembly to represent the 95th district, which includes the Town of Orangetown and parts of the Town of Ramapo, the seat Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffe now holds. With a new young family, Albany politics and life in the political fast lane to steer through, Karben experienced the classic fall from grace, or wipeout — scandal, rumor, exile.

“I was elected at such an early age that I don’t think I ever fully thought through the implications of what that meant to be in office,” Karben said.

But that was then.

As is often the case, when people get out of the gate very fast and find early success, they sometimes encounter a famous fall often brought on by an aching achilles heel that’s finally itched. But as Ben Affleck so aptly said on the big stage as he accepted his recent Academy Award, “You have to work harder than you think you possibly can. You can’t hold grudges. It’s hard but you can’t hold grudges. And it doesn’t matter how you get knocked down in life because that’s going to happen. All that matters is you gotta get up.”

We rise, we fall. And for some of us, that’s the end of the story. But Karben has remade himself into a viable community voice. His constant Twitter feed is an intelligent and original curation of information that ranges far and wide but eventually settles on the local angle. It’s a unique voice within Rockland politics that weaves together an interesting community narrative.

“I’ve been in the community a long time. Grew up here,” Karben said. “I had the great privilege of serving the people of Rockland County,” he said, detailing his own personal challenges, magnified by public attention. “If you don’t go through that and learn something worth sharing, well,” he said, trailing off.

“Government is our social arbiter. That’s where all the roads run through, every community, every ethnic group, economic place — needs, wants, concerns — that all runs through the filter of government,” Karben said, ever the conversationalist. “I used to participate in that conversation as one of those arbiters. And I learned a lot from that. Now I focus on things that I care about.”

With newspapers pulling back local coverage and the whole information/media horizon shifting rapidly, Karben has found a new platform that allows him to delve into Rockland County politics while exploring a plethora of diverse and divisive community issues. Besides his presence on Twitter, Karben also periodically posts longer form Karben Copy commentary.

“I’m just a guy with an opinion,” he said, finally. “And technology gives any guy with an opinion the opportunity to get it out there. The marketplace determines whether people are paying attention to what you’re saying, whether you’re relevant to the discussion or not.”

“The county government is sort of marginal now in the big picture conversation because it’s so broke and beset by its internal fiscal problems,” he said, working up to speed again, “So, all of us share an obligation to get involved in this conversation. Technology has made it possible to do that while running my business, and taking care of my kids, and pursuing my interests.”

Ryan Karben will discuss Rockland suburban politics and East Ramapo schools Thursday night at 8 p.m. on @TheSpinClass on Nachum Segal radio, 91.9 FM in Rockland County. He can also be read daily tweeting @RKarben on Twitter.