Although primarily viewed as a social networking site, Twitter is continuing to climb the ranks and prove itself as a viable source of news. Some of the biggest news stories of the past few years have broken on Twitter, leaving traditional media outlets wondering how to compete with the site:
1) Osama Bin Laden’s Death: In the time between the White House announcing a late-night press conference, and President Obama telling the world Osama bin Laden had been killed, Twitter users had already broken the news of his death.
2) The Hudson River Plane Crash: When US Airways flight 1549 unexpectedly landed in the Hudson River in New York City in January 2009, Twitter users were among the first to break the news and post photographs. Janis Krums tweeted a picture of passengers on the wings of the floating Airbus passenger jet: “There’s a plane in the Hudson. I’m on the ferry going to pick up the people. Crazy.”
3) The Earthquake in China: One hour before any mention in mainstream media, China’s devastating earthquake of May 2008 was trending on Twitter.
4) The East Coast Earthquake: Tweets began pouring in from D.C. nearly 30 seconds before the quake was felt in New York City and well before any reports about the quake emerged from the media.
5) Michael Jackson’s Death: News of the King of Pop’s death in June 2009 was released by TMZ, but first went viral via Twitter. TMZ managed to outpace the mainstream media, all of whom were camped outside the hospital waiting for official confirmation. How did it do it? By not waiting for official confirmation and instead, relying on unnamed sources and on-the-spot rumors through Twitter.
More recently, just last night, the news announcement of Wilson Ramo’s safe rescue from kidnappers was made through Twitter. The Washington Nationals catcher was kidnapped by armed men outside his parents’ house in Valencia, Venezuela on Wednesday. After candlelight vigils and tons of speculation about his whereabouts, Information Minister Andres Izarra reported the safe rescue of the MLB player via Twitter last night, saying Ramos was “found alive by security forces in the mountainous zone” of Venezuela.
These incidents clearly exemplify how Twitter and other social media sites essentially allow anyone with a smartphone to break news. With that said, though, getting your news from Twitter may not always be a good thing. Just as valid news stories spread quickly on Twitter, so do crazy rumors, like the death of Tiger Woods:
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/247978/20111111/tiger-woods-dead-twitter-facebook-hoax.htm
Likewise, sharing news on Twitter enables embarrassing mistakes to go viral in just minutes. Take Ashton Kutcher’s recent tweet about the firing of Penn State coach Joe Paterno:
Some Twitter users take advantage of their audience to publicize meaningless news stories, too, making spectacles out of everyday occurrences. Take this poor college couple in Boston whose break-up at a Burger King was publicized by an onlooker:
Stories such as these can downplay the site as a quality news source, especially for people already skeptic of Twitter.
As Twitter continues to be used to communicate a wide array of news stories, both true and false, the information on the site must be used with caution. As with any news, trusting your source of information is key. There will always be Twitter users that post more credible information than others.
As we have seen through the many examples, whether publicizing fact or fiction, one advantage the site does have going forward, is its timeliness. Say what you want to say but no other news outlet can compete with the speed of information posted on Twitter.
So, what do you think? Do you think rumors and meaningless news stories on Twitter downplay the credibility of the site as a valid news source? Do you think Twitter could eventually be seen primarily as a news source and secondly as a social media site?
Sources: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/08/us-twitter-factbox-idUSTRE76700F20110708; http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/10-news-stories-that-broke-on-twitter-first-719532
Tania Talks... 
Great post. I follow so many “breaking news” handles now like Huffington Post and CNN and just avoid the web all together. Twitter is also great for local news as the Boston TV stations post regularly. I also follow the major police and traffic handles like Mass DOT so that I know what to avoid when driving on the Pike/93/95. Twitter has saved me hours in my car!
Good call on the traffic updates, Angela! It’s always irked me that traffic websites seem to be at least an hour behind when it comes to reporting slowdowns. Should have occurred to me to turn to Twitter. Do you find Mass DOT to be the best source?
Download the Beat the Traffic (free) app and check it out if you’re traveling long distance or rush hour – it will highlight stopped areas in red. It’s free. I only know about Mass DOT so let me know if you find anything else!
Love how you considered both sides of this argument, Tania. You’ve included some great examples here. I think Twitter has now firmly established itself as a leading source to get news — as you note, many stories “break” here. But you have to take what you read on Twitter with a grain of salt. I think you can definitely get tipped to stories on Twitter, but should then revert to your more trusted news sources to confirm the validity of what you’re seeing through tweets.
Funny you say that, Lucy. That is exactly what I did to confirm all of the information in my post!
It’s one more link in the news chain. IN the beginning (or at least a while ago) news came through regular periodicals (i.e. newspapers), who did in-depth fact checking and reporting because a) they had time and b) their words would be in the record forever. Then came TV, with an ablity to turn news around faster, was less permanent, and wasn’t on a daily release schedule. The result, go live with less information and get the story as you could. Twitter extends that chain. An ability to retweet anything “newsy” from the couple breaking up to Bin Laden raid (which he didn’t know what it was when it was happening). The shift now is less how to find the news and more what news should we be paying attention to?
I have surprisingly found out about all of these news events through Twitter except for Michael Jackson’s death. I have found it to be the most timely source of news although maybe not the most accurate. However, because of its massive reach, I find that any inaccuracies are also quickly caught and corrected. Recently I heard about a shooting near the White House through Twitter and switched on the television to find out more information but never was able to find any mention of it. For news not “worthy” of major news stations, Twitter can act as a relevant and important news source.