Twittering. Here's what some think of it.

[burythehatchet]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/13/police.social.networking/index.html

But increasingly, police and fire departments across the country are tapping into social networking to disseminate information to the public.

"We think the police department has an obligation to get information out to the community through whatever means or mechanisms we have at our disposal," said Lakeland Police Assistant Chief Bill LePere. "Traditional media releases, expecting the local print media to pick it up and run it in the newspaper tomorrow, is 24 hours too late."

With Twitter and Facebook, there is immediacy. Information can be shared as quickly as the poster can hit send.

Public safety officials are finding the use of sites to be not only speedy, but also a convenient way to distribute press releases, Amber alerts, road closings and suspect descriptions.

Bruce Frazier, public relations specialist for the Dalton Police Department in Dalton, Georgia, said the way in which Lakeland police utilized Twitter is exactly what he envisioned when his department started using the site a few weeks ago.

[BlooInBloo]

1. Despite what the i-hate-new-things crowd says, in its niche, it's just fine...

I generally think of liveblogging as a good example. Public safety is another good example.

[Stinky The Clown]

9. You sure are handy with that broad brush

:eyes:

[BlooInBloo]

10. Why, thank you!

[Posteritatis]

16. You must've missed the hatefest after Obama's address

Two threads a day on how Twitter was a Republican plot (Republicans use it, after all!) or an existential threat to modern civilization, and neither of those is hyperbole. It was kind of sad.

I'm actually shocked and astonished and more than a little frightened that this thread consists mainly of sane reactions. ;)

[Lex]

2. It can disseminate information quickly to many people at once.

That's no surprise, or at least I don't think it is.

[spindrifter]

3. Twitter is fantastic for getting up-to-date info

out to people who need to know. Washington Department of Transportation did a great job with Twitter when we had various road closures due to flooding and snow. They were much better than most government departments.
I urge anyone involved in emergency response planning to incorporate Twitter and/or Facebook into their communication efforts. It's an ideal medium for schools to use, as well.

[burythehatchet]

5. These dynamic new platforms are labs for creative

experimentation in communications. So many applications...

[GinaMaria]

4. That's a great use for this tool

short bits of info that can be grasped quickly acted upon. I think some of the naysayers in the past, commented on the RNC using Twitter as their Social Media "Strategy". Most people wouldn't call a single tool with a limited application a social media 'strategy'. Others have just not found the tool useful. Like any communication tool, it has to be used when it is the best solution for the need. This is a great example. It's a really smart use of the tool and meets the need better than most of the other things available.

On edit:
It seems like the modern day version of the telegraph. Get important announcements to those that need the info.

[burythehatchet]

6. I agree GinaMaria. New communications platforms are always exciting

as novelties, but the applications that can be adapted on the platforms can be tremendous. The best ones are coming. :)

[GinaMaria]

7. The more we focus on meeting a need or solving a problem

the better the new stuff will be. It is exciting. Don't know how old you are but, when I was a kid and the 2000's were way far off. We thought of flying cars and space suits, very George Jettson. I never would have imagined what we have now. I don't think most of us would have guessed at this modern world we live in.

PS
I do wish I had a flying car that would fold up into a briefcase at the push of a button be light enough to carry.

[burythehatchet]

11. One of my first summer jobs in college was helping out in the

marketing department of Exxon Office Systems. Makers of the Qyp, Qyx and the Vydec. One of the first office system suites, including a primitive fax machine!!

[BlooInBloo]

12. What's a "fax machine"? Some kind of trivia game?

But I kid.

[GinaMaria]

13. That is really cool

have you always been drawn to this kind of work? Are you still doing something related?

[burythehatchet]

22. Probably more senrendipity than anything else. But as an Aries

my mind is always about the future and about "newness" :)

Right now I am working on Health care applications that use the social platform as the communications backbone.

Ironically, this is a great time to be doing this even within this economy.

[GinaMaria]

26. Yes it is a great time. That's a great way to describe Aries

They are also innovative and can look at anything new like the latest technology in washer and dryers and start to make connections about how the tech can be used in different ways or used it as a jumping off point to spark ideas for solutions. You probably also move at the speed of light. No other sign can really keep up with you. Looking forward to more chats with you as I am in healthcare communications, org change and work with lots of IT folks to help them communicate their great ideas in way non tech people will understand or I should say will want to understand :-)

Take care of yourself, remember to slow down once in a while and take in all you've accomplished.

[burythehatchet]

29. Thanks. I appreciate your comments.

:)

:hi:

[Dinger]

8. Shit, I Don't Even Know What It Is, Or How To Do It

I'm an oldie, what can I say?

[GinaMaria]

14. From the website

Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?

It seemed boring at first. It's shorter than email and everyone just tells you what they are doing. How many messages do I need saying 'I'm stuck in traffic', 'I'm in a boring meeting' etc. I didn't see the value until it was used differently... a co-worker went to a Web 2.0 conference in NY. Between breakout sessions she would twitter to give us the topic of her next session and the CIO et al would twitter back questions they wanted her to get answered. If the answer was short she would twitter it back, if not it would wait until she could email the answer or until she returned.

It's limited to very short messages so you aren't as bombarded as you can be with email. Hope this helps.

[NYCGirl]

20. True. It's gone way beyond "what are you doing?" NT

[GinaMaria]

27. I think people are just starting to see the potential

for this tool. It's not so much 'news' as emergency information like Tornado warnings etc. The same thing that goes across the television screen. The weather channel should look into this. Can't wait to see where this goes in the next 6-18 months.

[L. Coyote]

15. Twitterers twitteringly twittering everywhere now.

twit⋅ter
–verb (used without object)
1. to utter a succession of small, tremulous sounds, as a bird.
2. to talk lightly and rapidly, esp. of trivial matters; chatter.
3. to titter; giggle.
4. to tremble with excitement or the like; be in a flutter.
–verb (used with object)
5. to express or utter by twittering.
–noun
6. an act of twittering.
7. a twittering sound.
8. a state of tremulous excitement.
Origin:
1325–75; ME twiteren (v.); akin to G zwitschern

Related forms:
twit⋅ter⋅er, noun
twit⋅ter⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
8. flutter, tizzy, fluster.

[Exilednight]

17. Twitter = news for dummies. It's for the crowd who says ..........

"I don't have time to read the news, but I can look at headlines and call myself informed." Anyone who uses twitter for a source of real information needs to have their head examined.

[NYCGirl]

19. I guess the idea of links being posted along with those headlines confuses you,

right? Or is it that you don't know what you're talking about?

[Exilednight]

21. It helps if people actually read the links. It's the internets equivilant of the USA Today ........

Let's dumb down America a little more.

[NYCGirl]

23. Gee, some people don't click the links here, either. NT

[Indiana_Dem]

28. I like and appreciate your comment, lol :) nt

[backscatter712]

18. Haven't gotten into Twitter yet. Seems to me mostly a subset of Facebook functionality.

Facebook, I find very useful for tracking down and keeping track of and touching base with friends & such.

[spindrifter]

24. Twitter is much faster and cleaner than FB.

You don't have all the sideshow of FB to wade through. My main use for Twitter is to find out what is happening in a particular location quickly. It was invaluable for keeping track of our snow/flooding situation. If our transit provider would get its head out of its posterior, bus riders would have been much better served than with the lame and late notifications transit gave us. I followed the Mumbai terrorist activity with augmentation from posted links to newspaper and tv coverage. But for something that is developing quickly, tv and newspapers, even with internet coverage, seem to be too unwieldy to keep up.

[burythehatchet]

25. I think there is a business model to be built around indie 1st person news reporting

and consolidation. I also followed the Mumbai situation with fascination and it occurred to me how it could be the ultimate "late breaking news" site via on-the-scene reporting combined with summation and presentation.