Having been part of the Twitter world for over a year now, I just recently realized how powerful this social media tool it is.
Twitter helped start a revolution in Egypt. A year ago I never would have guessed Twitter would have that much influence in the world. I was just tweeting some stupid comments about something I saw on the beltway, or about how school sucks.
I’ve been starting to think about how historical events would have been so different if we had Twitter. Back from the stock market crash, war times, Watergate, even 9/11. I think investigative journalism is enhanced by Twitter dramatically.
Think about the break-in at Watergate being tweeted by a credible Washington Post writer at 2 in the morning. Even though its so late, millions of people would still be awake and could see it on Twitter. It would begin trending in a matter of minutes. It would be around the globe so fast, by the time the sun rises in Washington it’s old news.
I can’t wait for another huge worldwide story to break out through Twitter and believe me it’s coming soon. I follow enough news sources and celebrities to get some actual news, as well as some pop culture news for that day. Who needs TV and newspapers?
I used to always put Facebook > Twitter. But now I think it’s safe to say that Twitter > Facebook.
40 years ago, political power was taken and given without certain parts of the world even knowing the details. Last week, vivid video footage of Gaddafi’s capture surfaced online immediately following his death. The news of his death spread like wildfire on web sites like Twitter and Facebook, not to mention major news networks.
