Twitter: Saving The World – One Crisis At A Time

Twitter members spanning the globe have uniquely banded together during three crucial world events, saving lives and helping coordinate assistance.

1. In June 2009, throngs of Iranians took to the streets, protesting the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Western journalists were prohibited from reporting the Iranian government’s violent response. With Twitter members in Iran then being the only source of information about the chaos, the U.S. State Department contacted the social networking site, requesting they delay a maintenance shut down they’d scheduled. Twitter obliged, and as a result, tweets out of Iran continued to update the world about the deadly events, 140-characters at a time.

2. In November 2008, a handful of Pakistani terrorists went on a three-day shooting spree in the streets and posh hotels of Mumbai, India, killing nearly 200 people. As the gunmen raged, Indians flooded Twitter with updates and pictures of the mayhem. More importantly, they tweeted warnings to others in India, alerting them to take cover wherever more gunfire had been heard, saving lives.
3. Now, in January 2010, the world mourns what likely will be well over 200,000 deaths, resulting from a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that shook the island nation of Haiti. Once again, Twitter has come to the rescue. In scenarios where minutes and seconds count, people tweeting from Haiti were telling locations where dire help is needed, where someone’s trapped beneath the rubble of a collapsed building or where a medical team is desperately needed. This is crisis communication at its finest.

There’s another important role Twitter has played in response to the Haiti earthquake. It has been pivotal in helping many charities raise millions of dollars to aide in the crisis. By tweeting and retweeting short messages such as “Text the word “Haiti” to 90999 to send your $10 donation to the Red Cross,” the Twitter community has been instrumental in helping raise over $32 million for this one charity alone.

If you, as an entrepreneur, support an important cause or charity, why not use your social network connections to create awareness and build support?

There needn’t be an international crisis for anyone like yourself to have an impact. No matter what size your following, you can play a leadership role online and make a difference in someone’s life. You might be surprised by the number of new customers and connections your goodwill attracts, particularly if you communicate the need one tweet at a time.

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