Twitter defends itself with #atlgas

In her New York Times column today, Maureen Dowd asks Twitter co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams to defend their invention against the criticism that its merely a tool for self-absorbed yuppies to share mundane details of their lives with other self-absorbed yuppies.

Stone responds by listing examples of Twitter’s utility as an medium for serious, emergency communication.

Included on his short-list: Atlanta blogger Tessa Horehled’s #atlgas, which used Twitter to help Atlantan’s find gasoline during last year’s shortage.

BIZ: If people are passionate about your product, whether it’s because they’re hating or loving it, those are both good scenarios. People can use it to help each other during fuel shortages or revolts or earthquakes or wildfires. That’s the exciting part of it.

Earthquakes! Revolts! Wildfires! Tessa!