When twittering came of age...
Jan. 16th, 2011 05:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
boodieA lot of people I know malign Twitter and those who tweet as a bunch of vapid shallow fools who post their lives in bytes of 140 characters or less, and sure there are people on Twitter who really aren't worth following or taking much note of, but the one thing Twitter and those who tweet have in their favour is immediacy and the instantaneous publishing of what is going on around them.
In other countries Twitterers have watched and reported on riots and revolution and natural disasters, posting pics and sharing information, I saw first hand this past week the efficacy of the new social media, and in particular Twitter, when the terrible and tragic floods hit Toowoomba the first thing I did was a) check twitter for a relevant #tag and then b) check Facebook for updates from people I know who live in Toowoomba.
In this fashion, and almost 90 minutes before the mainstream web media had formed coherent reports I had heard and seen enough to realise that this was going to be an awful awful time.
At the same time the hashtag #qldfloods was first put to use, and through watching this on Twitter I was able to watch/read/see in real time the horrendous effects that the advancing flood was having on the people not only of Toowoomba, but Grantham and the Lockyer Valley, during the excrutiating wait time before the flood waters hit Brisbane I was able to watch/read/see how and what people were doing, how they were preparing.
Seeing a call go out on Twitter for people to help evacuate the Dogs Home, or to move several horses, or to help an elderly couple who were trying to do it on their own, and seeing 20-30 minutes later a big thank you for the dogs saved from harm, the horses somewhere safe, the elderly couple thanking the generosity of strangers, this,this is where Twitter comes into its own.
Of course as with all new media there are the idiots who think they are being funny and some reports that sound genuine that arent, like the Bull shark washed up in suburban Brisbane, or the fact that Suncorp stadium was on fire, or the trains had stopped/started running- that's when subscribing to the official twitter feeds of the police, the SES, the ABC, the BCC etc etc, but for up to the minute information about how the ordinary people were coping, #qldfloods was the one to watch.
I watched this almost obsessively over the day and night of the Brisbane River reaching its peak, and heaving a sigh of relief when the peak wasn't as high as they said it was going to be, and then this last few days watching people from all over Australia whose only contact has been through twitter trying to find out what they can do to help, people in Brisbane who escaped flooding opening up their homes to survivors.
And people, so many many people asking where they are needed the most and turning up with brooms and buckets and in some cases boxes and boxes of hot food and coffee to feed the volunteers, or the Vollies as they are affectionately known on twitter, calls going out for help at this suburb or that, overwhelmed people needing help on the verge of a complete breakdown and groups of 20-30 people arriving on their doorstep to help.
All co-ordinated through Twitter.
My heart rose and swelled with pride at the way people just gave and gave and then gave some more, and then went looking to see who else they could help, the next time someone disses twitter I shall look at them with the contempt they deserve.
In other countries Twitterers have watched and reported on riots and revolution and natural disasters, posting pics and sharing information, I saw first hand this past week the efficacy of the new social media, and in particular Twitter, when the terrible and tragic floods hit Toowoomba the first thing I did was a) check twitter for a relevant #tag and then b) check Facebook for updates from people I know who live in Toowoomba.
In this fashion, and almost 90 minutes before the mainstream web media had formed coherent reports I had heard and seen enough to realise that this was going to be an awful awful time.
At the same time the hashtag #qldfloods was first put to use, and through watching this on Twitter I was able to watch/read/see in real time the horrendous effects that the advancing flood was having on the people not only of Toowoomba, but Grantham and the Lockyer Valley, during the excrutiating wait time before the flood waters hit Brisbane I was able to watch/read/see how and what people were doing, how they were preparing.
Seeing a call go out on Twitter for people to help evacuate the Dogs Home, or to move several horses, or to help an elderly couple who were trying to do it on their own, and seeing 20-30 minutes later a big thank you for the dogs saved from harm, the horses somewhere safe, the elderly couple thanking the generosity of strangers, this,this is where Twitter comes into its own.
Of course as with all new media there are the idiots who think they are being funny and some reports that sound genuine that arent, like the Bull shark washed up in suburban Brisbane, or the fact that Suncorp stadium was on fire, or the trains had stopped/started running- that's when subscribing to the official twitter feeds of the police, the SES, the ABC, the BCC etc etc, but for up to the minute information about how the ordinary people were coping, #qldfloods was the one to watch.
I watched this almost obsessively over the day and night of the Brisbane River reaching its peak, and heaving a sigh of relief when the peak wasn't as high as they said it was going to be, and then this last few days watching people from all over Australia whose only contact has been through twitter trying to find out what they can do to help, people in Brisbane who escaped flooding opening up their homes to survivors.
And people, so many many people asking where they are needed the most and turning up with brooms and buckets and in some cases boxes and boxes of hot food and coffee to feed the volunteers, or the Vollies as they are affectionately known on twitter, calls going out for help at this suburb or that, overwhelmed people needing help on the verge of a complete breakdown and groups of 20-30 people arriving on their doorstep to help.
All co-ordinated through Twitter.
My heart rose and swelled with pride at the way people just gave and gave and then gave some more, and then went looking to see who else they could help, the next time someone disses twitter I shall look at them with the contempt they deserve.
