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Students Use Twitter to Report on China Earthquake

by Tim Stevens on May 12, 2008 at 11:01 AM



China may not be a leader when it comes to Internet acceptance, given its history of trying to block anything online that doesn't quite jive with its political message. Thankfully, the country has apparently not chosen to block instant-update site Twitter, a Web site that has become a bit of a sounding board for those who experienced the 7.8 earthquake that struck the nation early on Monday.

Though plenty of news about the quake has been coming steadily from established news sources such as AP and Reuters, it hasn't always covered up-to-the-minute specifics about each and every affected area, and here's where some non-traditional, online information/social-networking services are coming in handy. According to some blog reports on the BBC and Silicon Alley Insider, many English-speaking students are using Twitter to post first-hand, post-quake experiences, which are helping those on the outside understand what's happening there. Users casperodj and inwalkedbud have been two of the most prolific earthquake twitterers, posting some frightening updates such as the one pictured above, as well as some later, more reassuring ones.

By enabling people to post quick updates from cell phones, computers and other mobile devices, Twitter has gained popularity and is gaining a reputation for being a fun way to keep up with friends. Critics call it a waste of time, but this perception is changing since increasingly Twitter is being used as a way to keep in touch during disasters, when sometimes traditional forms of communication or media are not available. Case in point, last year's wildfires in Southern California, when residents used Twitter plus Google Maps to share information about affected areas and shelters.

Twitter has a long way to go before it'll be considered a reliable news source, but during such debilitating disasters, the service is certainly proving its worth among those looking for instant updates. Let's just hope the power doesn't go out next time there's a crisis, which would make using cell phones and Wi-Fi challenging. [Source: twitter via dot.life and Silicon Alley Insider]

Tags: breaking news, BreakingNews, disaster, social networking, SocialNetworking, twitter

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