LA Times Using Twitter for Wildfire Updates

When we don't see a purpose, technology, especially new technology, can seem frivolous. Twitter is a great example — I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone brush off Twitter as "just for geeks" or for self promotion. Often, new technology needs people to experiment with it so that when the time comes for it to show it's usefulness, we are ready.

Here's a great example. The LA Times is using Twitter (which send updhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifates via IM, mobile or Web to those who "follow" a user or a keyword) to communicate updates about the wildfires in Southern California. They started about a day ago and have already posted more than 100 updates, which come from their blog.

They also have a mashup showing where the fires are.

This is by no means the only example of Twitter being used beyond the "I'm brushing my teeth" model, but one that really show the power of instant, distributed, on-my-terms communication.