Tech blogger Robert Scoble was busy writing about it on his Scobleizer blog. When Scoble wrote on his blog, the news spread far and wide. He has about 23,000 people following him. He makes big claims, including that the news was on Twitter even before the United States Geological Survey was reporting it."I reported the major quake to my followers on Twitter before the USGS Website had a report up and about an hour before CNN or major press started talking about it. Now there's lots of info over on Google News."How did I do that? Well, I was watching Twitter on Google Talk. Several people in China reported to me they felt the quake WHILE IT WAS GOING ON!!!"Over the next two hours I pointed at anyone who had info about the quake on my Twitter account. It's amazing the kind of news you can learn by being on Twitter and the connections you can make among people across the world."Many others, including the likes of the Wall Street Journal, have been picking up on the impact services like Twitter have had. The WSJ ("Technology Speeds First Draft of Disaster") reported how when the earthquake struck, the first instinct of one college student in Sichuan province, some sixty miles from the epicentre was to duck for cover in his dormitory room and the second to post it online.The result was some extremely swift on-the-ground reports as well as plenty of rumours. There was video, and photos, but micro blogging with Twitter proved perfect for short updates, which acted as alternate form of communication.It became even more useful as the quake disrupted the phone system in some areas."Buses are so packed, they can't close the doors anymore," Chengdu resident Casper Oppenhuis de Jong posted on his Twitter account, providing updates on the quake's aftermath there. Later, he wrote: "Street is still packed with Chinese." Then, "People don't seem to dare moving back into their houses."As the WSJ has it, in a slightly unflattering way (it has to be said) that fails to see the upside of the service prior to this, Twitter was initially was viewed as the pastime of students, tech geeks and dilettantes with a desire to advertise the minutiae of their lives. It has, even before that, become slightly more, but no one is entirely sure what.I try to hold back on the day-to-day stuff and to stay industry and newsy. So I skipped posting the fact this morning that I have a lump on the side my face and a swollen mouth after getting hit in the face by a softball last night.That is part of the conundrum as we wrestle with exactly what it is as we Twitter, as we wrestle with the one thing and not the other identity of the technology. Twitter is teetering on the edge as it demonstrates its usefulness in incidents like the China emergencies or the California fires, when it is quicker and a more useful way to stay informed, and as a breaking news service that also lets you know people you know are hanging in Starbucks or freeloading on someone else's wi-fi.Before Monday, Daniel Ebbut, an English national studying Chinese at Sichuan University, had only two "followers" -- people who read his updates regularly -- on his Twitter account. Now he has 93."Twitter was very important and valuable today," Ebbut told the WSJ.About 10:30 pm Beijing time, he wrote, "There are hundreds of people outside, some even with blankets & tents, some in cars."At midnight, he wrote, "More aftershock now, at least they're getting further apart."There are other takes, of course, such as the headline on one Silicon Valley blog "News via Twitter now you can feel saddened and powerless minutes ...".
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Gordon Macmillan
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Member since: 03 Jun 2008
Last login: 25 Nov 2009
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