Tweets from micro-blogging phenomenon Twitter are being used by the US Geological Survey (USGS) to get instant public reaction to earthquakes.

In a report today on BBC News, the agency revealed how they are trawling peoples tweets to find out what people felt during a tremor – whether there was a lot of shaking in their area or not.
There are big spikes in Twitter traffic immediately following a quake and the USGS believes emergency responders might find the information useful.

“It is a speed versus accuracy issue,” explained Dr Paul Earle.

“Twitter messages start coming out in the seconds after an earthquake whereas, depending of the region, scientifically derived information can take 2-20 minutes”.

It’s interesting to read reports stating that over 60% of new sign-ups to the micro-blogging phenomenon Twitter leave after just one month. The lack of functionality of Twitter compared to other mediums like Facebook and MySpace could be one reason for this, or maybe the recent surge of press interest led to some passing through to see what all the fuss was about.

Twitter’s strength has always been in it’s simplicity in allowing conversations and news feeds to formulate and evolve. But as other forms of social media develop, this could prove to be the achilles heel in Twitter’s long-term sustainability, leaving the tweeting nest very much half empty

News that communications companies are being asked to record all internet contacts between people to modernise police surveillance tactics in the UK is a worrying development in the fast changing digital age, and a further step towards becoming a full blown surveillance state. The new system would track all e-mails, phone calls and internet use, including visits to social network sites.

The project will cost £2bn to set up. The real cost however will be the further erosion of privacy. Some will argue if you have nothing to hide then you shouldn’t be concerned, but the ramifications of having your every email, phone call, twitter or facebook chat being logged and analysed is nonetheless a worrying development of the loss of liberty in the modern age.