How Twitter Can Save Lives

(andPOP) - Who would have thought that social networking and blogging could save lives?

An article that appeared in dailygalaxy.com reports that, in the wake of the massive earthquake that hit Chengdu, China earlier this week, people have been turning to Twitter.com as a source for reliable and quick updates on the crisis. Twitter.com is a social networking and mini-blogging site where users can constantly update their status or post entries, all in the interest of letting others know what you are doing or what is happening – vital information in a time of disaster.

According to the article, Graham Webster, an employee with CNet and a resident of Beijing, first found out about the earthquake from Twitter. Webster also said that Twitter provided him with links to hundred of other reports and pieces of information about the earthquake and what was happening in the region. Dailygalaxy.com reported that Webster informed other Twitter users of aftershocks and what the public was doing in his area.

The article also reports that Twitter.com was used in a similar fashion during the wildfires in California late last year. Twitter became an excellent source of information for many people in the area, as a regular stream of user updates with searchable tags made sure that people in the community knew of any breaking developments.