Online News, Twitter, and Washington DC’s Metro

These days I rarely read the newspaper on a daily basis. As a busy mom always on the go and more often on the computer, I tend to get the majority of my news on the internet. I scan the headlines for world events via CNN, keep up with local news via The Washington Post’s site, set up RSS feeds for my hometown papers, and get The New York Times headlines on my iPhone. Perhaps I’m contributing to the death of newspapers through all of my internet reading but news published via online outlets provides the most up to date information at the click of a button especially when confronted with a tragedy like Monday’s Metro crash.

I also subscribe to news feeds via Twitter. Twitter is proving to be an incredibly useful way to get news because the 140 character format makes it quite digestible and easy to read. AFriends and neighbors who rely on Metro’s Red Line to get in and out of DC on a daily basis have told me that they found out about Monday’s accident through tweets on their phones. One friend told me that her husband was on a Red Line train coming home when the train stopped in a tunnel. For 45 minutes they waited inside the tunnel with very little information about what was going on from the train operator and riders learned of the crash through Twitter.

If you aren’t on Twitter, sign up just for the convenience of getting breaking news delivered to your phone. Here are a few news outlets that Tweet:

• CNN
• ABC
• CBS News
• The Washington Post
• The New York Times
• NPR Politics

If you live in the DC Metro Area or plan to visit, Metro established Twitter acconts for each of their lines just before President Obama’s inauguration. Follow the line you ride the most to learn of any delays.

Click below to subscribe to any of the following Metro lines:

• Red Line
• Blue Line
• Green Line
• Yellow Line
• Orange Line

You can also sign up for Metro e-alerts here.