4 ms·

> There are sometimes newsworthy things on Twitter. If something is particularly newsworthy, it'll appear elsewhere in pretty short order IME, often it origina

> There are sometimes newsworthy things on Twitter. If something is particularly newsworthy, it'll appear elsewhere in pretty short order IME, often it originated elsewhere in fact.

ceejayoz 3y ago
Sometimes the tweets themselves are newsworthy, or the news articles cite a tweet. Some local governments use Twitter for announcements you can't easily get elsewhere, especially during a disaster like a big snowstorm.
- prmoustache 3y ago
  Most local gov have their own websites too. The thing is people used to check on them on twitter by default.
  - wl 3y ago
    During the last natural disaster I found myself in, the authorities were updating Twitter and Facebook but not their official websites. At least the important/urgent stuff was going out through the emergency alert system.
    - prmoustache 3y ago
      From what I understand, the official measures in a situation of emergency and disaster in my country and local gov is: - messages on the fm radios - sms broadcasting
  - dspillett 3y ago
    That, and some government run sites are under-resourced to survive the deluge of traffic that an emergency might generate. As much as I dislike twitter, I understand that it is a useful fallback.
- dspillett 3y ago
  > Some local governments use Twitter for announcements you can't easily get elsewhere, especially during a disaster like a big snowstorm. A bit like my national government seems to be run via WhatsApp… In an emergency situation, if twitter was the only rapid source, I'd have to go look there. This is partly why I said elsewhere in this thread that avoiding twitter isn't practical for everyone. The chances of such an emergency where I am is pretty remote. If any of my local politicians are listening: if there is something that important and you can't reliably provide information somewhere instead of (or as well as) twitter, rest assured that even if I voted for you last time I won't the next!

> There are sometimes newsworthy things on Twitter. If something is particularly newsworthy, it'll appear elsewhere in pretty short order IME, often it originated elsewhere in fact.

ceejayoz 3y ago

Sometimes the tweets themselves are newsworthy, or the news articles cite a tweet. Some local governments use Twitter for announcements you can't easily get elsewhere, especially during a disaster like a big snowstorm.

prmoustache 3y ago
Most local gov have their own websites too. The thing is people used to check on them on twitter by default.
- wl 3y ago
  During the last natural disaster I found myself in, the authorities were updating Twitter and Facebook but not their official websites. At least the important/urgent stuff was going out through the emergency alert system.
  - prmoustache 3y ago
    From what I understand, the official measures in a situation of emergency and disaster in my country and local gov is: - messages on the fm radios - sms broadcasting
- dspillett 3y ago
  That, and some government run sites are under-resourced to survive the deluge of traffic that an emergency might generate. As much as I dislike twitter, I understand that it is a useful fallback.
dspillett 3y ago
> Some local governments use Twitter for announcements you can't easily get elsewhere, especially during a disaster like a big snowstorm. A bit like my national government seems to be run via WhatsApp… In an emergency situation, if twitter was the only rapid source, I'd have to go look there. This is partly why I said elsewhere in this thread that avoiding twitter isn't practical for everyone. The chances of such an emergency where I am is pretty remote. If any of my local politicians are listening: if there is something that important and you can't reliably provide information somewhere instead of (or as well as) twitter, rest assured that even if I voted for you last time I won't the next!