CNN

Through his cellphone, James Karl Buck used the social networking micro-blog site Twitter to send an update, called a "tweet", to friends and colleagues when he was arrested in Egypt while covering anti-government demonstrations. Twitter is a social-networking blog site that allows users to send status updates, or "tweets," of less than 140 characters from cell phones, instant messaging services, and Facebook. Buck's message fit the word-length requirement. He wrote "arrested" as he was being taken into custody along with his translator. This news was passed on by an Egyptian colleague in Califorania through blogging. Buck continued to use the Twitter function of his cellphone for updates until his release. He continues to use it in combination with a blog to rally people to help him locate his translator.


Twitter, normally used as a social tool to keep groups connected, has been used in natural disasters, e.g., earthquakes, for disaster communication. It is now finding a function with activists and journalists. In Buck's case, his one word message stimulated not only the broadcast of his whereabouts and the events unfolding, but caused his university to hire a lawyer on his behalf, as he detailed his incarceration through messages that, at the end of 24-hours, included "free".

CNN.com/Technology website accessed on May 1 2008.