Twitter's 2011 - the news in tweets
Twitter's reputation for breaking news is well established, but momentous tweets can be lost in the noise. We take a look at some of the most significant stories of the year where Twitter played a part
- February - Google marketing executive Wael Ghonim became an unexpected icon of the uprising in Egypt tweeting and posting his opposition to the regime on Facebook. His updates stopped when he disappeared into police custody for 12 days. On his release he tweeted:
- He gave this emotional interview to privately-owned Egyptian channel Dream TV about his detention:
- True to form, the online activist greeted the resignation of Hosni Mubarak with a tweet:
- May - little did IT consultant Sohaib Athar (aka @reallyvirtual) know when he tweeted:
- That he was witnessing something even more significant than he imagined:
Osama bin Laden killed - how a live blogger captured the raidAfter a car accident that nearly killed his wife and five-year-old son, Sohaib Athar exchanged his "big-city life" in Lahore for what he ...- The news was confirmed to a wider audience via Twitter by Donald Rumsfeld's chief of staff, Navy Reserve officer Keith Urbahn:
So I'm told by a reputable person they have killed Osama Bin Laden. Hot damn.
Keith Urbahn
keithurbahn- July - as word spread around newsrooms that former News of the World editor and former head of communications for the Conservative party Andy Coulson had been arrested, the question was: which police station had he been taken to?
News of the World phone-hacking scandal - Friday 8 July 20118.17am: Good morning. Welcome to the Guardian's continued live coverage of the News of the World phone hacking scandal. • David Cameron's...- On Twitter, Coulson was reportedly spotted entering a station in south London - the original tweet from @RosettaStone57 no longer seems to be online, but the information was later confirmed by reporters:
- August - Londoners used Twitter and Facebook to mobilise groups of volunteers to help clean up the streets following nights of rioting in the city and elsewhere in the UK. The operation, tagged #riotcleanup, was started shortly after midnight on Monday 8 August by Dan Thompson (@artistsmakers) and by 10am Monday, the tag was the top trending topic in the UK, and the second worldwide.
Last night we needed batman. This morning we need The Wombles. #londonriots #riotcleanup- November - A tweet of a different kind made the news in November - an update that our technology editor nominated for tweet of the year:
Lion reports disrupt rail servicePassengers were not allowed to leave a train at a West Yorkshire village after reports a lion and a cub had "jumped on the tracks". West ...- What have we missed? Tweet your suggestions to @guardian and we'll update this Storify.
An update from our followers on Twitter: 
@guardian "Twitter in the news 2011": The derailing of the then front-runner's Irish presidential campaign. irishtimes.com/newspaper/brea…- October - Thanks to Ciaran for pointing out this story, as reported by the Irish Times, about a tweet that was claimed to have changed the course of the Irish presidential election:
