Twitter helps get student out of prison

Two friends recently asked me to explain the value of Twitter.

My view is that Twitter is just a communication tool similar to blogs, SMS etc. It is up to people and companies to find ways to use it so that it adds value to their service. Some brands have done this already and I'll come back to this in a later post with a few examples.

But I wanted to highlight the recent example of how Twitter was used to help free a student from prison in Egypt...

Last April, James Buck, a Berkley student, was thrown into prison while in Egypt covering some anti-government protests. While on the way to the police station, James texted the word 'arrested' to his twitter network of friends - which led to very rapid action to get him out.

It's an interesting example of how Twitter added value. You could argue that a text to his best mate or dad might have also worked but interesting all the same.

Found the story via Fallon

James Buck's twitter network here.