Twitter to the Rescue

I came across an article today that immediately caught my attention with the headline of, 'Texas Hospital finds Blood Donors Through Twitter'. I was shocked that social media has come this far. The article went on to describe how, after the tragic Ft. Hood shootings of November 5, a PR person for Scott & White Hospital utilized Twitter to reach out to an active audience following news about Ft. Hood, which had quickly become a trending topic. He kept the audience and media abreast of the condition of the soldiers at the hospital and asked if people could donate blood to the shooting victims. His tweet was retweeted 400 times and he recieved a whopping 1,000 units of blood that day. His tweets generated such a buzz that he had to turn 600 donors away due to the overwhelming response. This is a great example of the power of Twitter in accessing people on a personal level and shows why social media has become such an important phenomenon in the PR world. Please link to the original article here and tell me what you think!