Twitter was used by candidates in the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign throughout the race. Democratic Party nominee Barack Obama used it for publicity.[62] The Nader?Gonzalez campaign updated its ballot access teams in real-time with Twitter and Google Maps.[63] Twitter use increased by 43 percent on the day of the United States’ 2008 election.[64]
On April 10, 2008, James Buck, a graduate journalism student at University of California, Berkeley, and his translator, Mohammed Maree, were arrested in Egypt for photographing an anti-government protest. On his way to the police station Buck used his mobile phone to send the message ?Arrested? to his 48 “followers” on Twitter. Those followers contacted U.C. Berkeley, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, and a number of press organizations on his behalf. Buck was able to send updates about his condition to his “followers” while being detained. He was released the next day from the Mahalla jail after the college hired a lawyer for him.[65]
Research reported in New Scientist in May 2008[66] found that blogs, maps, photo sites and instant messaging systems like Twitter did a better job of getting information out during emergencies than either the traditional news media or government emergency services. The study also found that those using Twitter during the fires in California in October 2007 kept their followers (who were often friends and neighbors) informed of their whereabouts and of the location of various fires minute by minute. Organizations that support relief efforts are also using Twitter. The American Red Cross started using Twitter[67] to exchange minute-to-minute information about local disasters including statistics and directions.[68]
Media outlets began to use Twitter as a source of public sentiment on issues. During the CBC News television coverage of the Canadian federal election on October 14, 2008, the CBC cited tweets regarding Elizabeth May and St?phane Dion along with a graph of items mentioned on Twitter as evidence that people were calling for Dion to step down in response to the election results.[69]
In October 2008 a draft U.S. Army intelligence report identified Twitter as a potential terrorist tool. The report said it “is already used by some members to post and/or support extremist ideologies and perspectives.”[70][71]
During the 2008 Mumbai attacks eyewitnesses sent an estimated 80 tweets every 5 seconds. Twitter users on the ground helped compile a list of the dead and injured. In addition, users sent out vital information such as emergency phone numbers and the location of hospitals needing blood donations.[72] CNN called this “the day that social media appeared to come of age” since many different groups made significant use of Twitter to gather news and coordinate responses.[72]
David Saranga of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that on December 30, 2008, that Israel would be the first government to hold a worldwide press conference via Twitter to take questions from the public about the war against Hamas in Gaza.
In January 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 experienced multiple bird strikes and had to be ditched in the Hudson River. Janis Krums, a passenger on one of the ferries that rushed to help, took a picture of the downed plane as passengers were still evacuating and sent it to Twitpic before any other media arrived at the scene.[74][75]
The Australian Country Fire Authority used Twitter to send out regular alerts and updates regarding the February 2009 Victorian bushfires.[76] During this time the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, also used his Twitter account to send out information on the fires, how to donate money and blood, and where to seek emergency help.[77]
On April 7, 2009, thousands of young anti-communist protesters stormed the presidency and the parliament building in Chi?in?u, the capital of Moldova, accusing the government of electoral fraud. Information about these events was disseminated through Twitter using hashtag #pman. This hashtag came from the name of the central square in Chi?in?u: Pia?a Marii Adun?ri Na?ionale.[78] Twitter was also used to mobilize for the protests.[79]
The first criminal prosecution arising from twitter posts began in April 2009. Agents of the FBI arrested Daniel Knight Hayden, a supporter of the Tea Party protests against the policies of US President Barack Obama. Hayden was allegedly sending tweets threatening violence in connection with his plan to attend that protest in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.[80]
In May 2009, astronaut Michael J. Massimino used Twitter to send updates of the Hubble Space Telescope repair mission, the first time Twitter was used in space.[81][82] In the same month Reveille Productions and Brillstein-Grey Entertainment announced they would soon be producing a TV series in which Twitter was used to track down celebrities.[83]
A study by Harvard University of 300,000 Twitter renaisance users found that 10 percent of these users created over 90 percent of the content from that group. It also showed that many only used the service to follow others and did not post content of their own. They found that number of tweets in a user’s lifetime had a median value of one.[84]
In May 2009, Twitter won the “Breakout of the Year” Webby Award.[85][86]
In June 2009, following allegations of fraud in the Iranian presidential election, protesters used Twitter as a rallying tool and as a method of communication with the outside world after the government blocked several other modes of communication.[87][88][89][90] On June 15 Twitter rescheduled a planned 90-minute maintenance outage after a number of Twitter users and the US State Department asked Twitter executives to delay the shutdown because of concerns about the service’s role as a primary communication medium by the protesters in Iran.[91][92] CNN’s coverage of the conflict was criticized in tweets with the hashtag #CNNfail.[93] Twitter was also used to organize DDoS attacks against Iranian government websites

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