One if by Land, Two if by Tweet

Can you imagine how different the American Revolution would have been if Paul Revere had a Blackberry? Instead of embarking on an epic midnight ride from Cambridge to Lexington, with lantern in tow, shouting “the British are coming,” Revere would have just tweeted “They’re here! #grabyourguns.” Within minutes, the militia would have organized and sent the Red Coats packing before they ever got off the boat. There’s no weapon quite like Twitter.

The popularity that the micro-blogging site accrued since its inception is outstanding. Since 2006, Twiiter gained more than 106 million users worldwide. 460,000 new users join daily. On average, 200 million tweets post each day and one billion post every week. It currently ranks ninth in the world’s most popular websites. Though it only allows 140 characters per tweet, Twitter proves to be the ultimate call to action engine.

  If someone likes something on Twitter, they retweet it, and in effect, share it with an entirely new audience. This differs from other platforms like Facebook and YouTube, where interest is tracked by subscriptions and is not necessarily passed along to others. Twitter updates constantly, allowing followers instant access to new or changing information regarding similar information. Hash tags categorize topics and expose users to trending topics that they may have been unaware of previously. The ease at which it informs and engages the masses makes Twitter both a valuable tool and an unbelievably effective weapon when in the right, or the wrong hands.

In early August, riots broke out across London after Mark Duggan, a young black man, was gunned down by police. Authorities believe individuals used Twitter to mobilize rioters. Rioters retweeted inflammatory statements and images of riots across London. Within three days police made 160 arrests. Some of the original tweets came from accounts that had over 9,000 followers; it is impossible to know exactly how many individuals were exposed to or reacted to the posts, but the carnage that resulted is clear.

There are other, less destructive examples of Twitter’s value to organizers and organizations. Researchers at HP Labs discovered that Twitter can be used to determine how well a movie will do on opening weekend. There are other anecdotes of how small businesses use tweets to attract customers, but I fear I’ve far exceeded my character limit for this post. Let me leave you with this, revolutionaries need tools to do their work; if you’re not already down with Twitter #getonbaord!