When people say “Twitters pointless,” I can quickly counter by saying that Twitter is a source for breaking news, helping social movements, and is a key part of society today. Which no one can dispute that Twitter is a place to find some of the latest and most accurate news around today. Twitter has been the platform where people first heard about Osama Bin Laden being killed, the Boston Bombing news first broke from first hand accounts, and Syrians have used Twitter to leak news out to the world. On Wednesday Twitter announced a new way to get updates on emergencies and natural disasters in partnership with governments and aid agencies. The updates work much like the alerts users get through iPhone’s or some Android devices. Twitter users who sign up for the alerts will receive notifications through the app from a number of agencies. The U.S FEMA, Tokyo’s Disaster Prevention service and the World Health Organization are just a few of the agencies that have signed up.
While Twitter is a platform to find real-time updates about important disasters, news, and emergencies. The platform is still widely known for the celebrities who break down and tweet ridiculous things, and later deleted. a large majority of politicians use the service to campaign, see in real-time what people are saying about them, and get feedback on what’s happening in their districts when they are in D.C. Twitter is a way to spread news, communicate with influential people, or get out messages. There have been more major slip ups with the Associated Press (AP) getting hacked. The hackers tweeted false news about an attack on the White House, which sent stocks down until the news was proven false.
Expanding on more accurate real-time updates that could aid people in disaster areas will further increase what Twitter is worth. Twitter has recently filed for an IPO, so in the near future Twitter will be publicly traded company. You can currently sign up to receive these updates, by clicking here. What do you think about Twitter including notifications from governments and aid agencies? Do you think this will help send news out or that many people will ignore this service, and continue to waste their days away following celebrities?