The Washington Post, the best newspaper in these United States, ran an article on how many firms are trying to use Twitter in their day-to-day operations:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/08/AR2009030801531.html?sub=AR
The articles says that Twitter is a unique way for companies to create buzz for new products or to issue quick alerts to customers such as outages. Companies mentioned include Network Solutions, Skittles, Dell, Fairfax County VA, and the Bill Gates Association, which is about as diverse a group of organizations that I can think of.
Of course there is a downside to all of this transparent, flexible communication, as there always is. A couple of weeks ago Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., couldn’t help himself but twitter the mesage “Just landed in Baghdad.” Hoekstra sits on the House Intelligence Committee, and should have known better than to have announced to his constituents in real-time that the party was now in a combat zone. And that wasn’t the end of it. He continued to twitter messages such as “Moved into Green Zone by helicopter Iraqi flag now over palace,” among other location-revealing comments.
Stupidity + new media = real danger.
Filed under: New media
