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PIER Systems, Inc. White Paper - Twitter and Government Communications (Version Date: Sep 01, 2009)
Twitter and Government Communications
A PIER Systems, Inc. White Paper
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Twitter was designed as a social media channel to enable friends and associates tostay in close contact with one another. The site’s motto is:
“Share and discover what’shappening right now, anywhere in the world”
. Most Twitter use focuses on groups of friends and associates keeping up on each other’s activities such as shopping, grabbinga cup of coffee, listening to a hot new music group, or enjoying a ball game. Given thatthis is the intention, and by far the most dominant use of Twitter, the question naturallyarises: why is Twitter so important for government communicators and causing such astir with those concerned about communicating vital public information?
Twitter in Emergency Communications
Twitter came to the awareness of many government communicators following its useduring a major news event. On January 15, 2009 US Airways Flight 1549 successfullyditched into the Hudson River after taking-off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport. Aspassengers evacuated into lifeboats, Janis Krums, who was standing near the HudsonRiver, snapped a picture of the plane with his iPhone. Being a Twitter user, Krumsuploaded the photo using a Web application called TwitPic. Immediately, all of his
followers were notied of the incident. From there, the photo and related tweet quickly
made their way to the mainstream media. While Krums assisted rescue efforts, he wascontacted by MSNBC. Thirty-four minutes after the crash, Krums was interviewed bythe cable channel with his TwitPic photo displayed under the breaking news banneron the TV screen. What followed was the typical media maelstrom, but the focus wasnow Janis Krums and his photo. Krums did two phone interviews with MSNBC, onewith CNN, was on Good Morning America, 20/20, Inside Edition, the New York ABC
afliate, BBC, and live with Rick Sanchez on CNN.
Two days after this whirlwind, here is what Mr. Krums wrote on his blog:
“I think it is incredible that anyone at any point can have such an impact by simply posting a picture online. Anyone with a camera phone can report breaking news. I don’t think that Twittering, Flickering, etc., will replace traditional news coverage. But, it can be a great aid for the traditional media channels.”
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