It’s easy to see how the first two are related.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the agency in charge of tracking the H1N1 (aka Swine Flu). Recently the CDCs twitter account reached 40,000 followers.

In the article, “Government Looks Online to Spread the Word on Flu,” NPR reported that:

Within a few days of news of the flu outbreak, the term “swine flu” quickly became 10 times more popular on blogs and Twitter than references to the peanut butter-related salmonella problems earlier this year, according to Nielsen Online, which tracks online traffic.

and

“And it hasn’t ended. If anything I think the buzz levels are going up,” says Pete Blackshaw, executive vice president for Nielsen Online’s digital strategic services. “Twitter has really incubated this real-time culture,” he says, particularly because followers of that social network can post short messages either from their computer or their cell phone. That kind of constant access promotes the faster spread of news, he says.

It amazes me that in a few years, Twitter and other social media have changed the way we communicate, even at the highest levels of government.

What are some of the creative uses of twitter that you have seen?

Photo Credit: CDC

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