From Mumbai attacks: Lessons in the power of social networks

In the shifting dynamic of news gathering and dissemination, mainstream news organizations can no longer count on being first to report on major disasters. Increasingly, social networks such as Twitter offer a first response of information, not from professional journalists but from witnesses, even victims, themselves.As the unfolding disaster in Mumbai illustrated, social media and the citizens who use these tools bring unprecedented immediacy to the story, and that immediacy may foster understanding of tragedy in far away places that we have never had before.As tragic events unfolded over the U.S.'s Thanksgiving Day weekend, I followed most of the news on Twitter, a micro-blogging tool that works on phones as well as computers. Via Twitter, I was able to learn of developments through bloggers as well as traditional media. Notable in its coverage was Global Voices Online. I also collected (again mostly from links others provided on Twitter) a list of stories exploring the dynamic growth and value of tools such as Twitter in covering the news. Here are links to some of those stories:-- "Amid Chaos, Citizens Spread Word on the Web," Wall Street Journal. -- "With Twitter, a Desperate Need for Context," by Om Mali.-- "Twitter, Mumbai, and 10 facts about journalism now," by Mindy McAdams. These stories suggest how much journalism is changing as citizens have the means to report and be heard directly. The challenge for professional journalists is to understand how these developments are reshaping their role.