Twitter unsurpassed as tyranny-fighting tool

"I wouldn't know a Twitter from a tweeter, but, apparently, it is very important."

Those were the inspired words of former first lady, former U.S. senator and current Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton.

That is the same Secretary Clinton who is in charge of American foreign affairs including those in Iran, where most of the revolution news is making its way via Twitter to the free world. Twitter is a social networking computer site that allows short, fast bursts of information and photos to be sent to "followers" who span the globe.

In the past week, as correspondents for some major news organizations have been ushered out of Iran, Twitter has been a major source of information about the turmoil. It has even been branded as the "Twitter Revolution" in some circles.

I have been reporting Twitter information from colleagues in Iran for the past couple of weeks via my Twitter page: twitter.com/ChuckGoudie.

So, whether Mrs. Clinton would know a Twitter from a tweeter or not, the secretary of state did have one thing right: yes, "it is very important."

I hope when she denied knowing anything about Twitter, Secretary of State Clinton was just numb from painkillers for her broken elbow. I'll bet even her most-respected analysts at the State Department have adopted tweets (as Twitter-based information is called) as actual intelligence.

It is one thing not to know about new technology when only pimply teenagers or bespectacled geeks are using it. Ignorance is less forgivable when it comes to the most effective information and intelligence reporting tool being used by people risking their lives to make sure their slivers of democracy are not removed.

Even as a relative newcomer to Twitter (did I mention the way to follow me? At twitter.com/ChuckGoudie) it is obvious that Twitter is here to stay as a method of fast communication, directly connecting news makers, news reporters and news observers with anyone who has a computer or cell phone.

As the monumental events underway in Tehran are being recorded on mobile phones, iPhones, BlackBerrys and PDAs and exported on Twitter pages for the world to see, what had been just a fad has grown up quickly.

Before the Iran election deteriorated in sprawling street demonstrations and clashed with soldiers dressed as police and Twitter became a tyranny-fighting tool, I was going to write a slightly different column about Twitter.

The headline was to be: "TWITTER FOLLOWERS ARE 2009 VERSION OF FREQUENT FLYER POINTS."

My plan was to suggest that Twitter (and its older brother, Facebook) had produced a phenomenon not seen since the lucrative first years of America's frequent flier programs: a frenetic search for something intangible.

In the beginning of United's Mileage Plus, American's Advantage or any of the credit card partner programs, there was a ravenous hunt for large quantities of points by participants who saw gold at the end of the travel rainbow: free flights.

There was always an underlying "I'm better than you" by people who could rack up millions of airline points, reach the highest echelons of elite flyer programs and enjoy the all the perks.

Some of the most obsessive point addicts would go places and pay for tickets just to reach the next plateau of airline programs. You don't hear about that kind of compulsive behavior these days because the frequent flier programs are not nearly as attractive as they once were.

For millions around the world, Twitter followers are the new points (in case you missed it, the way to follow me is by signing up at twitter.com/ChuckGoudie). The more Internet users you can get to click on "follow," the larger your audience becomes for whatever it is you have to say.

Many people use Twitter the way that the social Web site Facebook is used: as a way to communicate meaningless information such as when they are going to the grocery store, how sick they are of the rain, etc...

It does have a much more useful function as an instantaneous, direct source of information about your community and your world. (No, I am not a Twitter stockholder, just a user at twitter.com/ChuckGoudie.) In an interesting case of supply and demand for quality, those with the largest number of followers are those with the most reliable source of information-for whatever your interest.

The others will eventually go away as providers of meaningless information and become followers ... just like in real life.

So in the case of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the impact of Twitter on Iran alone makes this a certainty: you can bet she will never again say "I wouldn't know a Twitter from a tweeter."

In fact, if she wants to follow my 24/7 news, investigative tips and interesting info, all she has to do is go to: twitter.com/ChuckGoudie.

Chuck Goudie, whose column appears each Monday, is the chief investigative reporter at ABC 7 News in Chicago. The views in this column are his own and not those of WLS-TV. He can be reached by email at chuckgoudie@gmail.com and followed at twitter.com/ChuckGoudie.