Demi Moore Twitters to Avoid Suicide

Twitter has been credited with potentially saving somebody's life, after actress Demi Moore used it to intervene in the case of a woman who claimed she was suicidal.

Moore picked up a message from a Californian woman who said she was planning to kill herself and rebroadcast it to more than 350,000 fans. As a result, Twitter users began to contact police to warn them of what was happening. Police later confirmed that the suicidal lady was taken into custody for evaluation.

Moore, who is one of the most high-profile celebrities to use Twitter, said she did not know the woman. In a response on the site, she said that the incident was a "prime example of the power of collective consciousness".

The miracle of Twitter! Is there anything it cannot do?! This does sound like a bit of puff care of Twitter's press office. People have been using forums, email lists and instant messaging services to air their problems for many years. Here, however, we see the power of the distributed network. With 350,000 other people listening in that lonely plea for help became amplified into real world action.

If only someone could figure out how to use this to solve so many other global problems.