The recent Christchurch earthquake and the revolutions in the Middle East are a stark reminder of the power of social media. Instead of switching on the television or scanning the internet, my primary source of news is now Twitter.

I first learnt about the 22 February earthquake when browsing the Twitter feed on my phone. My husband had tweeted that the Beehive, where he works, had been rocked by an earthquake. That was rapidly followed by tweets from several news networks, who were retweeting Christchurch-based residents.

Even as long ago as the 2008 Los Angeles earthquake, when Twitter was only a fledging, the first tweet was made just seconds after the rocking finished. It took four minutes for the first news story to be posted. By then thousands had already tweeted.

Monday night’s earthquake in Wellington followed the same approach, with both my Twitter and Facebook feeds exploding.

It has been fascinating to watch how Twitter has evolved as the Christchurch earthquake unfolded. First came the reports of the earthquake, which then shifted to tweets as family and friends desperately looked for loved ones, followed by tweets of fundraising, survival stories and how the Government will cover the cost.

I was particularly impressed with @nzherald, which retweeted requests for help and other vital information that wasn’t news-related. Communications practitioners have all talked about the power of social media in shaping reputation – and for me, @nzherald did just that by seeing that they could help by sharing the news via their network of followers.

Perhaps I’m not cynical enough, but for me, they were one of the few organisations that didn’t try to take advantage of the earthquake for their own benefit; they simply helped spread the word because they saw that they could genuinely help.

The ability of social media to connect, and democratize information, has also played a vital role in the revolutionary action in the Middle East. Who would have thought that a Facebook page of a passionate Egyptian, who was subsequently killed, would have sparked a revolution that has now seen two countries overthrow their dictators?

In the context of revolutions, social media is of course only an enabler. But its power to reach so many so quickly means that energy builds faster than ever before. By the time those in charge thought to turn off the internet it was too late – a movement had already begun, momentum achieved, and people had had a taste of freedom.

The most fascinating thing about Twitter is that it’s not Twitter itself that works; it’s the ability to share information rapidly that is the power. Twitter, and whatever follows it, are the modern-day “runners” who used to run from village to village spreading the word. They’re just that much faster.