I always enjoyed Twitter ... but ever since Toronto has been turned upside down with earthquakes and riots I have built an appreciation for how useful it really is.
When the quake hit I happened to be in class. After the screaming and crying from certain classmates, (and my wise suggestion that it's probably just a garbage truck ... hey I am from NS ... we don't have anything but hurricanes there). but the first place that we looked for information was Twitter.
There were Tweets from all of my friends questioning what the heck just happened and then came Tweets from the Metro and other news outlets. They were really informative and the earthquake was quickly a trending topic. Reports were stating that because of Twitter they could tell how many cities felt the quake and it reached all the way down to New York.
When the G20 riots started this weekend where was the first place I looked .... Twitter. CP24 updated their Twitter quicker then it was on television. I was watching the channel and got a Tweet that said "Rioters are moving to Bloor" probably five minutes before the news desk covered it .
People are always debating how long Twitter will be around for... and if it has staying power like Facebook. Well before these events I thought that they might be right, besides Tweeting random thoughts what else was Twitter really good for??
Now I can say Twitter is pretty useful when crazy, unplanned events happen and I hope that it becomes adopted by more people.
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Before we had to get a Twitter account for online PR I thought it was a ridiculous notion and a self-serving waste of time. But since then I've definitely changed my mind. I learned about the earthquake and what was happening downtown during the G20 first through Twitter too. It is a quick way to scan the news.. and hear the gossip. I've definitely been converted (although not as Twitter crazy as some!)
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