Twitter: 1, Mainstream Media: 0

So while doing my weekly skim through of the happenings in the Twitter world, I came across this article retweeted by one of the professionals I follow. At the height that all that has happened since Monday, this was by far the most interesting read and I think it gives a whole new perspective on just how vast the world of Twitter can be and exactly how many people it can reach. For those who aren't quite as apt to read, the article's title basically sums the whole thing up: the news about Osama Bin Laden's death broke via Twitter before ever reaching any mainstream news media. This is like a whole new level for Twitter and #winning can easily be the appropriate hashtag for this news. The first person to even tweet that Obama was going to be addressing the nation was the communications director for the White House and shortly after that the former chief of staff tweeted the following: "So I'm told by a reputable person they have killed Osama Bin Laden. Hot damn." These two tweets were posted at 9:47 p.m. and 10:42 p.m. Know when the first newspaper released the story? 11:10 p.m., 30 minutes after the news broke via tweet. Very cool.

This was, I believe, around the same time that the president actually began his address to the nation, which confirmed what TV stations like CNN and Fox News had been telling us consistently for about 40 minutes. I definitely think this is a big stepping stone for social media and just shows another way it's on the rise, rather than dying off as people have claimed it to be doing. If I didn't think those people were fools before, I do even more so now. Even the night before, people in Abbottabad were tweeting that something was happening. One man even liveblogged the raid on Bin Laden without even knowing what was happening. This is also why I love Twitter the more and more I use it and read about it. I think it should become an integral part of every traditional news outlet, like CNN who tweeted updates at the same time their station was live broadcasting to viewers. Now not only were they reaching mom, dad, grandma and grandpa, but in a generational sense, they were also reaching you, me, sisters, brothers, friends and anyone else who is technologically and social media savvy.

So at least read the article, pass it on because if nothing else, the story is extremely cool and everyone should know the power of Twitter and we can sum it up as such: one small step for Twitter, one giant leap for social media!