Avenue Magazine Edmonton

At an Original Joe's restaurant in Old Strathcona, people from all over Edmonton gathered last fall to raise money for a youth emergency shelter. It was all part of Twestival, a global fundraiser that originated in London, England, and currently has 200 participating cities. At Edmonton's second Twestival of the year, guests have just one thing in common: In whatever field of work they're in, they use the social networking tool Twitter to extend their reach.

The attendees at Edmonton's Twestival represented a range of young and old Edmonton professionals. Mack Male, or @mastermaq, who organizes the local event as well as similar and more frequent engagements called Tweetups, refers to these people as Edmonton's Twitter Community. At the event, guests are recognized by nametags labelled with their handles, not by their faces.

One person there was @bingofuel, or Adam Rozenhart, co-founder of Dub5 Networks and the popular blog, Oilersnation.com. Through a donation campaign advertised on his Twitter account, he raised enough money to send a writer to the NHL draft last year. His story is just one example of how locals are using the social networking tool to enhance their business dealings.

Nobody denies that Twitter is far from intimate. It merely allows for information to be shared efficiently, and only to those who want it, and those who check their updates frequently. Many of its critics have dismissed it as a passing fad, pointing to a study by Nielsen Online last year that found 60 per cent of users quit using it within a month.

A fad or not, millions are hooked, and among them are some of Edmonton's most respected figures such as @doniveson, @lyndasteele and @hallsy_ched. For those who don't speak the lingo, that's City Councillor Don Iveson, Global TV anchor Lynda Steele and sports announcer Bryan Hall.

Since Twitter started up in 2006, Alberta's Twitter community has become the third largest in the country, with over 26,000 registered users, however, the number of active users is less than half. Granted, many of these users are people like little Betty Sue from Clareview, who wants the world to know that her Orange Julius is the best orange juice she's ever had. But Twitter members also include the City of Edmonton, sending out traffic reports; the Alberta Food Bank, tweeting special announcements; and the United Nurses of Alberta, who have used Twitter lately to take shots at the Progressive Conservative party.

"It sort of makes the city feel smaller," says Male. Along with organizing events, and carrying many other roles, he's also the author of a locally focused blog that made him Edmonton's unofficial online authority. "I think at the same time it's really one of the tools that drives the ability for you to talk directly to your city councillor, or the people giving you the six o'clock news."