2008-04-22 Tweetbomb - A Tweet To Shake The World

2008-04-22 Keith Kleiner Singularity Hub \Twitter\coordinated mass action\internet http://singularityhub.com/2009/04/22/tweetbomb-a-tweet-to-shake-the-world/ Tweetbomb - A Tweet To Shake The World Tweetbomb - A Tweet To Shake The World  A simple message, less than 140 characters, is sent out to followers around the world and within hours, perhaps minutes, more than 100 million people have been mobilized to act. The message might instruct those who read it to look at a certain website, protest at a designated time and place, or perform any number of other acts, promoting an agenda or cause whose intentions may be either benign or downright evil. But whatever the message, whatever its agenda or intentions, the message has been sent and the world is shaken by its power. A tweetbomb. That is what this message is called. Although we haven’t seen one yet, you better believe it is coming, and it is coming soon. Welcome to the era of Twitter, an era of mass communication where a single individual or institution can mobilize massive numbers of people as never before. The article doesn't explain why Twitter is more powerful in this regard than any other internet-based instant notification (such as a mass emailing).

The difference would seem to be that the "followers" don't have to give out any contact information in order to receive the message (although many Twitter users do). This removes much of the inhibition of joining the "followership". People aren't generally as attached to their Twitter accounts as they are to their email addresses, and spammers haven't yet figured out how to spam Twitter accounts.

Another method of distributing such information, which requires even less sharing of personal information, would be via RSS feed, which can be made safe from hackers.

The article also misses the fact that the primary difference between Twitter and a hugely popular TV show (such as the Superbowl, which I never watch) is that anyone can generate and control a Twitter feed, but only a huge media corporation can determine what messages go out during the Superbowl. -

&ldquo;A simple message, less than 140 characters, is sent out to followers around the world and within hours, perhaps minutes, more than 100 million people have been mobilized to act.&rdquo;   