Hi Dan
      Ta for the comments.
      My view is that it's the new media literacy which is needed  
(from the readers perspective) and providing the information on a  
variety of (linked) sources is needed (by the provider).
     In this case the tweet had a linked to the trusted University of  
bath Web site.
     I also trust the UniofBath twitter account as it is well- 
established and has clearly been used for official purposes.
     I did consider suggesting a UniofBathAlerts Twitter account to be  
used for emergencies - but that would be easier to poof.
     I'm not sure what a twitter-verified account would bring. What  
would I, as an end user? see that's different?  I don't think I've  
ever seen a verified account.
     Brian

PS is [log in to unmask] the person I used to go out drinking with :-)

On 7 Jan 2010, at 09:53, Dan Brickley wrote:

> On Thu, Jan 7, 2010 at 10:47 AM, Brian Kelly <[log in to unmask]>  
> wrote:
>> The University of bath used its @UniofBath twitter account to alert
>> followers that the University was closed  due to the bad weather.
>> Notification that information would be provided before 7.30 am was  
>> given on
>> the Bath Web site the previous evening, and the tweets were sent  
>> out on
>> time. Various people retweeted the news, exploiting the viral  
>> nature of
>> Twitter.
>> I've written a post about this:
>> http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/2010/01/07/ket-it-snow-let-it-snow-let-it-snow/
>> There has been some subsequent follow-up messages on the post and  
>> on Twitter
>> about how Universities can make use of social networking tools for  
>> events
>> such as bad weather conditions - but this might also apply to other
>> difficulties and disasters.
>> Does anyone have any formal policies and procedures related to  
>> this?  Or
>> suggestions as to ways in which social web can be used in this  
>> context?
>
> Interesting, and nice use of the tech. Now, just to play the cautious
> guy: do you have an emergency response for what you'll do when the
> inevitable happens, and some mischievous student or grumpy staffmember
> circulates "Please RT: @UniofBath closed for the week due to snow"?
>
> (and should http://twitter.com/uniofbath be a twitter-verified
> account, if people are expected to trust it?)
>
> cheers,
>
> Dan
>