BBC: Twitter and the China earthquake.
I reported the major quake to my followers on Twitter before the USGS Website had a report up and about an hour before CNN or major press started talking about it. Now there’s lots of info over on Google News.
How did I do that? Well, I was watching Twitter on Google Talk. Several people in China reported to me they felt the quake WHILE IT WAS GOING ON!!!
Over the next two hours I pointed at anyone who had info about the quake on my Twitter account.
It’s amazing the kind of news you can learn by being on Twitter and the connections you can make among people across the world.
I fear a large casualty loss. The epicenter was 50 miles from Chengdu, which has about 10.5 million residents. Already reports are coming across of buildings that have been knocked down.
dtan was the first Twitterer I saw talking about the quake. This was my first post in reaction to him.
UPDATE: Online Journalism Blog has a lot more details about what happened on Twitter tonight. From the Frontline blog has even more.
UPDATE2: Global Voices Online has links to videos and other Twitter and blog reports.
UPDATE3: here’s a timeline of what first Tweets looked like.
[...] in Philippines and Lebanon. Very recently, witness the role of of while micro-blogging, where Twitter enabled on-time reporting of China’s earthquake, in fact a full hour before CNN or other traditional media reported it, and even before the US [...]
[...] residents used Twitter to tell their loved ones that they were okay. It’s not the first time the micro-blogging website has served this purpose in an emergency – the same thing happened during the earthquake China had [...]
[...] breaking news of a UK earthquake long before traditional media outlets were reporting. Robert Scoble did the same for the China earthquake earlier this year, and most recently, the July 29th [...]
[...] News is increasingly broken by ordinary people with iPhone Twitter apps or normal office workers sat at their desks updating Twitter by web or Gtalk and not by dashing reporters in long macs, or even agency reporters in far-flung bureaux. It is the canary in the news coal mine. [...]
[...] like Robert Scoble are often lauded for getting it and, indeed,often seem to spend a lot of time highighting others who don’t get it, something that I myself was recently accused of doing in the comments of this post. But in fact [...]
[...] the outside world as this article from Slate shows: Peter Scoble of Scobleizer fame may have indeed broken the story: “I reported the major quake to my followers on Twitter before the USGS Website had [...]
[...] to breaking news “faster than everyone else.” Apparently receiving breaking news of an earthquake is okay, receiving breaking news of Olympic results when you live in a time zone with a broadcast [...]
[...] sich Nachbarn im Minutentakt über den Ausbruch von neuen Bränden. Die Nachrichten über ein Erdbeben in China war über Twitter eine Stunde eher bekannt als auf CNN und anderen Mainstreammedien. Außerdem half [...]
It’s been a few months and people in Chengdu are still struggling. Please help us build a school for the victims: http://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/build-a-school-for-chinas-earthquake-victims
It’s been a few months and people in Chengdu are still struggling. Please help us build a school for the victims: http://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/build-a-school-for-chinas-earthquake-victims
At first I wasn’t sold on Twitter but now I think its the best…….way to go Twitter
At first I wasn’t sold on Twitter but now I think its the best…….way to go Twitter
[...] Some news travels faster than an aftershock [...]
[...] con una entrada del blog antes que tu mujer se vaya al trabajo no es una buena idea, 90. Algunas noticias viajan más rápido que un aftershock 91. Las personas no necesitan gestores para organizarse – sólo contactos 92. Cuando pueda [...]
[...] the recent Chinese earthquake, we saw how blogs and tools like Twitter were the only means for citizens to communicate to the outside world past the filter of the [...]
[...] be more likely to be ‘there’ when a story breaks – and to understand the [...]
Its interesting to see how Twitter advanced in the mass media…….it tells me that the internet is no longer the alternative approach to the news…….its now main stream.
Its interesting to see how Twitter advanced in the mass media…….it tells me that the internet is no longer the alternative approach to the news…….its now main stream.
[...] and efficiently dispersing important information. In fact, the recent earthquake in China was discovered by Tweeters a full half hour before any of the mainstream American news channels or websites picked it [...]
[...] recently Twitter was the first source for new on the China earthquake, Robert Scoble started reporting the news well before any of the major news services had picked up the story, Twitter was allowing people [...]
[...] has made headlines in some amazing news stories; breaking the news of China’s earthquake and helping a student get out of jail when he was arrested in Egypt for nothing more than taking a [...]
[...] talked about how fast Twitter broadcast info about the bridge collapsed last year or the earthquake in China this year. But only when the Mumbai attacks happened few weeks ago, I did have a chance to witness the [...]
[...] events/topics and will not be sending a lot of my own tweets that actively (unless I am the first one in some area with an earthquake happening, but I hope that will not happen too soon). Instead I will of course work on the blogging without [...]
[...] Nothing demonstrated the true power of Twitter better than the unfolding of the recent Chinese earthquake which was first reported on Twitter. [...]
[...] because I am a news junkie. The blurb on the SXSW Web site mentions that the news about the earthquakes in China last summer, broke on Twitter. This group, which includes Peter Imbres, Andy Carven, Alex [...]
[...] the Chinese earthquake hit earlier this year, Twitter users were the first and in many cases best [...]
Omg, that awfull….
oldtimerock from flowers coloring pages
[...] take it to the next level. The twitter community usually knows about news as it happens. Take the Chinese earthquake for example. Sometimes the news breaks first on twitter as in Sara Palin’s [...]
[...] around the world found about the earthquake on Twitter before any news station was reporting it. We live in world where we want to know what is happening [...]
The epicenter was 50 miles from Chengdu, which has about 10.5 million residents. Already reports are coming across of buildings that have been knocked down.
[...] used Twitter to report on the earthquakes in China, receiving instant updates from those affected locally, and the BBC seem to post any ol’ [...]
[...] there was an earthquake in China, people twittered it as it was happening! CNN didn’t break the story for another couple [...]
[...] a big fan of using FriendFeed to filter through it all, but come on! How does FriendFeed help you break the news of a Chinese earthquake from a bunch of random people in China?!?! How would you pick up on that before CNN does if you [...]
[...] everyone has been raving about the role of Twitter in breaking news stories, such as the Chinese earthquake earlier this year and the Iranian protests. Citizen journalism is definitely on the rise, as [...]
Scoble, unless you are suggesting the USGS doesn't know anything until its posted on their web site, I would respectfully submit you are high. There is no way in he'll a Twit was able to type out a message before the USGS knew an earthquake had occured
[...] than a month, it’s probably time to talk about Twitter. After all, it broke the news of the earthquake in Sichuan, served as the Iranian protesters’ communication link to the world and proved Ashton Kutcher [...]
[...] than a month, it’s probably time to talk about Twitter. After all, it broke the news of the earthquake in Sichuan, served as the Iranian protesters’ communication link to the world and proved Ashton Kutcher [...]
how quickly a news is important to journalism and so is how accurately
Causes of impotence
how quickly a news is important to journalism and so is how accurately
Causes of impotence