The uses of Twitter

Twitter is being used in more inventive ways all the time. Amanda Congdon, formerly of Rocketboom.com has a Twitter feed that informs subscribers when she’s doing her next live online broadcast or has posted new content to her website. iJustine uses it in the same way…although iJustine extends the reach and content of her Twitter account by using associated applications (like Twitpic) that allow her to link to pictures she takes while out in the world. It's much more work than I'd ever do...though I too have a Twitter account I update from time to time.

Some uses are incredibly helpful for newsgathering: The Alaska Volcano Observatory is the scientific outpost currently monitoring the situation at Mt. Redoubt…a volcano that is likely to erupt over the next days or weeks. In addition, public safety agencies (like the Scottsdale, AZ Police Department or the LA Fire Department) have been getting on Twitter as a way to distribute small bits of vital information to several media outlets quickly and simultaneously.

However, other uses are not nearly as pragmatic…the Atlanta Journal-Constitution had a story this morning about Gen. Lee Beauregard’s Twitter page. General Beauregard is no military hero mind you…he’s Georgia’s groundhog answer to Punxsutawney Phil.

This is yet another example that the development of new technology and the uses for that technology often develop independently of each other.