Online Media Cultist

It’s often been said by myself and others that Twitter, amongst many other uses, is a great tool for live event coverage and for keeping groups of people informed during an emergency.

Now in what could become a story that makes Twitter much better known throughout the world, we’ve learned that it has helped rescue a UC Berkeley grad student from an Egyptian jail. After being hauled off by police for photographing a demonstration, James Karl Buck “tweeted” the word “Arrested” from his cell phone, alerting his group of followers around the world to his situation.

By the next day, the combination of pressure from the US Embassy and an Egyptian attorney hired by UC Berkeley had forced Buck’s release. (Buck’s friend and interpreter, Mohammed Salah Ahmed Maree, remains behind bars.)

Peter Kafka of Silicon Alley thinks something is “off” about the story, that having a cell phone handy was far important to Buck’s release than the use of Twitter.

Either way, I’d think that having the ability to quickly disperse information (I’ve been arrested, please help) to a group of influential people during a time of crisis is incredibly powerful. And of course, a “Twitter effect” is that those people who have been notified have the ability to rally that message across an even wider network.

And I agree with Chris Brogan, who writes: “Twitter has a powerful ability to move people to action, to deliver help where it’s needed, and more. If a messaging platform can free a man from prison, what else can it do for YOU?”

I’ve added James Karl Buck to the group of people I follow on Twitter. You can find his profile here.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 at 8:51 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Tags: egypt, james karl buck, twitter