Twitter is what you make it. The social media site for messages of 140 characters or less is a head-scratcher for most people, most of the time. A vast majority of the content is chatter in abbreviated code marking the passage of millions of conversations in real time.
But in times of crisis, the potential of Twitter is revealed. It can be a sleeping giant readily roused and harnessed to spotlight important causes, events and people.
Over the past four days, young friends of missing Rye teenager Pierce Crowley have managed to spread word about his disappearance far beyond Rye and White Plains, even getting some celebrity and major media outlet attention on the search.
Reality star Kim Kardashian, British boy band One Direction, Designer Tory Burch, Real Housewives of New Jersey stars Albie and Chris Manzo, commentator Keith Olbermann, media outlets Fox News, Al Jazeera and others have all spread messages of support and information to help find Pierce Crowley.
