140 Characters: The Twitter Chronicles By David Steadman

How Twitter Saved London’s Air

Clean Air in London (@cleanairlondon) “is a non-profit organization that campaigns for sustainable air quality in London”.

Provides education about air quality and solutions to improve it

How it all began

Clear Air in London aimed to “extend the reach of their content and more rapidly grow their base of engaged followers.”

“Geo-targeting” was used to spread awareness to London’s twitter users.

How Other Twitter Users Pitched In

Word of London’s alarmingly high levels of “nitrogen dioxide” spread through twitter accounts operated by the “Mayor of London” (Boris Johnson), “BBC News”, and “The Guardian.”

The Outcome

@cleanairlondon was “successful” in its attempts to raise awareness.

Engagement rate of “19.4%”.

Over “two times as many followers”

Over “three times as many overall clicks”

Why it was a success

“Strong Message with tips and guidelines” to cultivate a “public understanding” of pollution.

“Targeting” the audience that would generate the best results.

“Personally” acknowledging retweets, favorites, and new followers.

Twitter to the Rescue

How it Happened In 2012, New York Times

reporter David Pogue had his iPhone stolen on a subway

After activating the tracking device, Pogue discovered that his phone traveled several miles to a “sketchy” suburb in Maryland.

He then posted these tweets to his 1.4 million Twitter followers:

How it Happened Cont.

Within “minutes” of the tweet being posted, several of his followers began searching.

One of those followers was a “police officer” in the town where the phone was emitting a signal.

How the Phone was found

After some searching, the iPhone was found lying in the “backyard” grass of a nearby home.

Initially, the homeowner denied taking the phone.

Later, he admitted to taking it in order to avoid criminal charges.

The Outcome

The iPhone was then sent back to David Pogue’s residence in Connecticut.

The story raised questions about user privacy

Mr. Pogue refuted the concerns, saying that the tracking device could only be activated with a password HE set.

SOURCES

Clean Air in London https://business.twitter.com/success-stories/clean-air-London. 17 February 2015. Online.

Privacy in a Digital Age. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/media-july-dec12-phone_08-03/. 18 February 2015. Online.

Images Provided by Creative Commons and Google Images