Twitter is a human seismograph
The power of Twitter is proven once again. Twitter is a human seismograph when it comes to spreading news. It is the modern version of the old drumbeat. Twitter amplifies the news like no other . So not only tweets, but also messages from old, longer-established media.
According to Business Insider, Twitter has had its CNN moment . Just as CNN needed the Gulf War to gain more notoriety, the death of Osama Bin Laden will bring Twitter more fame. “Remember CNN when the Gulf War started in 1990? Before then, it was watched mostly by obsessive news followers […] Then Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and suddenly CNN was everywhere. Even in bars.That's what's going to happen with Twitter after tonight's announcement that US Special Forces killed Osama Bin Laden…”
Business Insider is rather late with this observation in my opinion. Twitter has proven its worth peru phone number list much earlier. Even in the Netherlands. Think for example of the way in which the news came out about the murder of Milly Boele. Political reporter Frits Wester was there at the time like a shot , to be the first to tweet the girl's death. Or how Twitter can warn people before a possible earthquake occurs, read the article Twitter as an emergency center .
Sohaib Athar had no idea that he was reporting on the death of Osama Bin Laden. His blog reads: “The guy who liveblogged the Osama raid without knowing it” . It only became clear to him when other people started tweeting about the possible death of Osama Bin Laden (also read his FAQ about the event). I think that this fact – besides the lightning-fast distribution of news – is the second strength of Twitter. Together, Twitter users are able to filter, aggregate and connect news fragments (of only 140 characters). In this way, a coherent story is created that sheds light on the darkness. Jointly indicating relevance , it is the next phase of social networks . Something that Jaap Bloem and I discuss extensively in the free trend report “We The Web – The reconquest of life from the hustle and bustle” about the future of the web.
One of the tools that can help to indicate relevance is Scoop.it or Storify , which recently became accessible to everyone. But besides tools, it is the people who make Twitter such a powerful instrument. They are the beacons on the road to relevance. Twitterers who know how to separate the wheat from the chaff. People who are able to find the proverbial needle in all those haystacks of information . So go on Twitter and look for people who master the art of 'filtering, aggregating and connecting information'. Of course, I would like to be one of these beacons. You can follow me via @duivestein .