Thursday, March 12, 2009

Do you Twitter?

A Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency (CRESA) co-worker asked me... "Do I Twitter"? I sure do. And so does CRESA. We use it as an alert system and point people to up-to-the-minute information on the web or in cyber-space.

What is "Twitter"?

Simplicity has played an important role in Twitter's success. People are eager to connect with other people and Twitter makes that simple. Twitter asks one question, "What are you doing?" Answers must be under 140 characters in length and can be sent via mobile texting, instant message, or the web. It's a social media tool that's really a "micro-blog".

I follow real time happenings on Twitter. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) gets me the following information:

* Mountain Pass Reports
* Traffic Reports (as they happen)
* Canadian Border Wait Times
* Aviation Weather Reports (Yes, I'm a pilot)


You can see how to use these features on the WSDOT website at http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/inform/twitter. How would you use Twitter?

Do you use twitter? Sign up or sign in here and follow us at: http://twitter.com/CRESA.

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