If you don't understand the value of Twitter you might want to listen now. I was just on Twitter checking some friend updates when I saw one of my Twitter friends yelled, "EARTHQUAKE!" The earthquake hit just outside of San Jose but thanks to Twitter I had personalized alerts from several friends in the area as soon as the quake hit.
To show the power of Twitter I flipped on the local DC news and tuned in to see how long it would them to mention the quake. I sat through the entire broadcast and at least 25 minutes later in closing they briefly mentioned the quake. Twitter had me informed long before it was announced on the local news.
The quake tonight is just one example of what I am talking about. I had a similar experience when I was reporting an earthquake while in San Francisco in July. While Twitter can be so many things to so many people, some might agree, Twitter offers time sensitive, personalized alerts from people I care about.