The Prince of Wales is delighted to announce the engagement of Prince William to Miss Catherine Middleton - www.princeofwales.gov.uk
Despite its many ancient traditions, the British monarchy has not shied away from sharing important news on social media. Clarence House's official Twitter account announced the royal wedding.
EARTH QUAKE in Beijing?? Yup... @keso I felt it too!!
In 2008, tweets from China alerted the world to the region's severe earthquake, before the United States Geological Survey had a chance to comment. Blogger Robert Scoble helped spread the news by retweeting reports from people on the ground, before the traditional media could get a hold of the story.
My sources say Whitney Houston found dead in Beverly hills hotel.. Not in the news yet!!
While the exact tweet that broke the news has been disputed, it's unquestionable Twitter first reported and widely shared the news of Whitney Houston's sad demise.
Now infamous as an example of citizen journalism on Twitter, Janis Krums' Twitpic and accompanying tweet became the iconic harbinger of the Hudson River plane crash.
Be sure to watch Hannity this Wednesday at 9pm ET/8pm CT. I will be on to talk about my run for President of the United States @seanhannity
Newt Gingrich announced he would be seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. president via social media. Prior to a TV interview in which he detailed his plans, a tweet and Facebook post went live, revealing his intentions.
Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event).
Abbottabad IT consultant Sohaib Athar unknowingly live-tweeted the Navy SEAL raid that resulted in Osama Bin Laden's death, approximately nine hours before the news hit the wires. Once the news broke, Athar replied, "Uh oh, now I'm the guy who liveblogged the Osama raid without knowing it."
The tragic news about the Boston Marathon bombing originated from people on the ground at the race's finish line. They posted images of the explosions moments after the tragedy occurred. As well as spread the news, Twitter users unfortunately added to the confusion by posting and retweeting incorrect information.
EARTHQUAKE! MY HOUSE IS SHAKING!
The Virigina earthquake spread on Twitter faster than many people felt the shocks in real life. "Tweets began pouring in from D.C. nearly 30 seconds before we felt the quake at our headquarters in New York City and well before any reports about the quake emerged from the media," Mashable reported at the time. Twitter later revealed that more than 40,000 earthquake-related tweets were sent within a minute of its occurrence.
We’ve confidentially submitted an S-1 to the SEC for a planned IPO. This Tweet does not constitute an offer of any securities for sale.
Finally, Twitter eschewed a traditional press release and chose its own platform to reveal it had filed initial paperwork to go public. The tweet, which went live Sept. 12, 2013, has to date been retweeted nearly 15,000 times.
Twitter has revolutionized global news delivery and consumption. On top of the Twitter milestones that went down in history and dozens of memorable Twitter images, Twitter often breaks news before mainstream media can report it.
See also: This Is Why No One Follows You on Twitter
These nine stories represent the power of citizen journalism, plus the business strategy behind using Twitter to share major news. Our list is by no means exhaustive, so please share in the comments below any other notable news stories you recall that broke on Twitter.
Image: Flickr, dulnan