Not-So-Breaking News: Twitter is #1 for Breaking News

Posted by: admin on Jul 5, 2012 | No Comments

When Whitney Houston died in February, the story was first reported by a man on Twitter who only had 14 followers. Twenty-seven minutes went by before mainstream media broke the news of the star’s death.

What does this mean for news reporters and do we need them anymore?

The future of breaking news broadcasting now lies in the hands of social media – specifically Twitter.

Here are 3 reasons why we know Twitter is #1 for breaking news:

Governments around the world now ask Twitter for information. So far this year there have been 849 requests for information for 1,181 individual Twitter accounts. According to CNN, the U.S. Government alone made 679 requests for information.
If you are on Twitter and expand a Tweet containing links, you have the option to preview videos, view images and read entire news articles. Users are now going to Twitter first to access articles from The New York Times and CNN. You can even go to the Twitter accounts of the publisher and writer.
According to Spotify, Twitter fans rate Twitter as the “faster and number one news source to seek for information.”

Where do you turn to for your news source? We want to know – share your thoughts with us below.