tyabblemons Said:

"Twitter made searchable real-time communication available for the masses."

This was a game-changer. In the initial onset of Twitter, many journalists came unstuck, accidentally breaking stories that were meant for publication. The ability of Twitter to broadcast information in real-time challenged fire and police officials, who struggled to produce timely information. It was thought that if authorities didn't lead, then false information would circulate. And police operations can be compromised by having radio traffic transcribed to Twitter. But a fire may be fast moving, and impact on a town, and be reported on Twitter before authorities even issue a warning.

Overwhelmingly, Twitter has been good for the community. It is the only searchable real-timesource of information in the world. This means people can now get information about things that affect them, like disasters, in real-time.

Twitter has changed the way mainstream media break a story. Nowadays, a well known journalist will 'break' a story on Twitter as soon as it happens. They know the story will be broken anyway, so they may as well be the source. Then, they quickly submit their story about the event to their newsroom for publication. The consumer seeks the content that was broken by the journo to get more detail about the event. In this way, journalist's brands are now more important than the masthead they write for.

Following journalists on Twitter is a good way to get the latest news. Downside is, on the weekends they seem obsessed with sport...

For fire and other emergencies, authorities recommend you maintain multiple sources of information. Social media should be one of these sources. I think social media is a revolution. A people's revolution. And Twitter is king for real-time information.

Brad Lemon

April 2014.