Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Subscribe
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Subscribe
    Home Blogs First Read
    • Blogs
    • First Read

    Twittering Hurricane Ike

    Written by

    John Hazard
    Published September 13, 2008
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

      Rick%20Sanchez.jpg

      Just before 2 p.m. Sept. 12, in Morgan’s Point, Texas, CNN correspondent Rick Sanchez received a message while he was doing a live update on the approach of Hurricane Ike.

      The sender asked Sanchez whether her grandparents, living in Spring Valley, Texas, an inland Houston suburb, should evacuate ahead of Ike. Sanchez, still on the air, asked CNN meteorologist Chad Meyers, who located Spring Valley on a map of Ike’s predicted path and explained the dangerous wind conditions in that neighborhood and the possibility that victims could be stranded without food and power for days.

      He then gave viewers the bad news — traffic patterns in that part of Houston probably meant it was already too late to evacuate. The sender’s grandparents were best served to hunker down in Spring Valley.

      It’s a particularly poignant example of what Twitter is allowing Sanchez to do — communicate with hundreds of sources and relay their stories to the public.

      Sanchez picked up Twitter a week earlier when covering Hurricane Gustav from New Orleans. He needed a way to solicit local reaction from hundreds of sources regionwide. Like CNN’s iReport, it worked. Sanchez began receiving Tweets vividly reporting the scene from across the Gulf region.

      (Twitter, where were you eight years ago? I could have used you when the editors at the Asbury Park Press used to send me to supermarkets to solicit local reaction like a Little Leaguer selling M&Ms to finance the team’s new scoreboard.)

      Sanchez used Twitter throughout the weekend, and CNN reports that the segments using Twitter showed a ratings boost, making for the most-watched news program all weekend and the No. 1 cable program Sunday night.

      It was so successful CNN decided to launch a new show, Rick Sanchez Direct, (3 p.m. EST, weekdays) built entirely around Twitter. Sanchez communicates back and forth on the air with viewers and sources via Twitter.

      Twittering is now all the rage at CNN, where it is being used by several on-air correspondents and broadcasts and heavily promoted.

      Many to Me

      For months now I’ve been scratching my head trying to cite an enterprise use for a tool like Twitter. Well, it was sitting right under my nose.

      I’ve been using Twitter at eWEEK (my account and the eWEEK News account), but it has been primarily a one-way street — me telling a few lonely souls what eWEEK’s news staff is up to. But I never thought of it as much of an enterprise tool.

      Part of the problem is that I have a hard time calling this kind of journalism an enterprise operation (Where’s our production line? our supply chain? our compliance factors? the things that make up an enterprise?) and I only saw Twitter as a one-way street, Me to Many.

      Of course the street runs both ways and Sanchez now has nearly 14,000 followers feeding him news and quotes — Many to Me.

      I still don’t know how many industries would benefit from cheap, unqualified or verified communication from the hordes, but journalism can.

      My following isn’t large enough to serve as any real source of information to gather and report, but at least I can avoid the supermarket.

      John Hazard
      John Hazard

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Artificial Intelligence

      9 Best AI 3D Generators You Need...

      Sam Rinko - June 25, 2024 0
      AI 3D Generators are powerful tools for many different industries. Discover the best AI 3D Generators, and learn which is best for your specific use case.
      Read more
      Cloud

      RingCentral Expands Its Collaboration Platform

      Zeus Kerravala - November 22, 2023 0
      RingCentral adds AI-enabled contact center and hybrid event products to its suite of collaboration services.
      Read more
      Artificial Intelligence

      8 Best AI Data Analytics Software &...

      Aminu Abdullahi - January 18, 2024 0
      Learn the top AI data analytics software to use. Compare AI data analytics solutions & features to make the best choice for your business.
      Read more
      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Video

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2024 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.