But yesterday, May 1, 2011, huge portions of the world learned about the death of Osama bin Laden largely through these channels. I tuned in to TV to watch Obama’s speech, but I had my laptop and iPhone by me.

But before Obama even had a chance to announce the success of the military mission, millions of people already knew Osama was dead because of Twitter. Keith Urbahn tweeted the news more than an hour before Obama’s speech.

Twitter reports more than 4,000 tweets per second were sent at the beginning and end of Obama’s speech.  TV news was struggling to keep up with the social sphere while ensuring they meet their ethical need to verify information before reporting it.

The entire flow of information changed in this major news event.

And while it is amazing to get information quickly, this must make us wonder about what ethics guide its use. There are no professionals ensuring the factual accuracy of information on Twitter. If the news media is competing with a tool that is a free-for-all, will the integrity of news media be diminished?

When I was in journalism school, we always learned that you cannot break news without confirming it. But in the race to break news, or at least not be the only news agency not covering this HUGE news, nearly every major news outlet reported the news before it was confirmed. TV newscasters even used Twitter posts and Facebook questions during the breaking news coverage.

The social media sphere has definitely changed the way we get information forever. And each major news event further evidences this evolution.

So voilà! Check out myfirstdraft.com, a blog about writing authored by Susan Larson.

Susan happens to be the Director of Communications at NatureBridge, i.e. my boss. But this is a personal blog for her writing and is pretty entertaining so far.

I’ve been reading lately that we all have so many choices in life that we are actually handicapped by them. We can’t decide what to do, so we do nothing. Well, Susan decided that she wants to write more for herself, so she’s going to. How will she ever find the time? How can any of us find the time to live our dreams?

That answer comes in her second post: Confessions of an Addict.

I’ve been quietly working on three major PR pieces over the past couple of weeks, and all three were published in time for Earth Day!

• San Francisco Chronicle (4/22): Training next generation of environmental stewards
• Ventura County Star (4/21): Students get outdoor lessons in Santa Monica Mountains
• Care2 (4/22): Third Graders Explore! Learn! Sing! As They Visit Yosemite National Park

Don’t you love when the timing all comes together like that? There’s no better time than Earth Day to remind us all why it’s so critical for all children to experience nature, and I’m proud to help NatureBridge make this possible!

Last year, I:

• lost 15 pounds by tracking my consumption and exercising, and I kept it off all year, until I gained three back in December;
• joined Toastmasters and have delivered one speech every month, except December;
• climbed a mountain;
• gave a wedding toast;
• built several WordPress websites;
• and generally had an eventful year.

This year, I am going to set only one goal: to be happy. I’m going to keep discovering what I love to do, and maybe I’ll write more about it. Being a big fan of WordPress, I’m tempted to resolve to follow the advice of other bloggers to get back into it with “postaday” and “postaweek,” but I’m not sure I can commit.

Instead, I’ll try to live my best life, and I hope that means sharing it.

This is the fifth speech in the Toastmasters Competent Communicator manual. The objectives are:

• Use stance, movement, gestures, facial expressions and eye contact to express your message and achieve your speech’s purpose.
• Make your body language smooth and natural.

I chose the topic of holiday mingling because it lends itself to using body language and gave me a chance to take some risks and use humor.