clipped from www.informationweek.com

Never before has a crisis unleashed so much raw data -- and so little interpretation -- than what we saw as the deadly terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India unfolded. Amid the real-time video feeds (kudos to CNN International), cellphone pictures, and tweets, we were able to keep abreast of what seemed to be happening, and where it was going down, all the while not really knowing those other key, canonical components of journalistic information gathering -- namely, who or why.

You've got to add to this the immense influence of Twitter. In the past few days, I've seen a slew of stories pointing out how Twitter was a key source of real-time updates on the attacks, to the point that Indian authorities asked people to stop posting to the microblogging service (for fear that they might be giving away strategic information to the terrorists).

Twitter was an ongoing source of updates and commentary on the terrorist attacks. (Click picture to enlarge, and to see 2 additional screens.)