WEB 2.0 EMERGENCY APPLICATIONS: HOW USEFUL CAN TWITTER BE FOR EMERGENCY RESPONSE?

Twitter is a free, platform-independent, Web 2.0 communication application that allows users to send short (up to 140 characters) electronic messages to other individual users and user groups. Twitter users can send messages to one another via most internet-enabled devices capable of text messaging. This new and unique service offers great potential for rapid and integrated response to disasters. We explore the upsides and the downsides of this free service as a modern communications tool in the hands of disaster response professionals, government agencies, crisis management organizations (CMOs), organizations, and victims of disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]