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Irish Rail Uses Twitter To Help Reunite Lost Dog With Owner
from the tweet-and-found dept
One thing I always like about new technology is when it enables something that was effectively impossible before. So, while this story is really just a cute story about a lost dog, it also is quite amazing when you think about it. Not so long ago, this kind of thing wasn't really possible. It's the story of how a Jack Russell terrier near Dublin somehow got away from its owner on Tuesday evening. Wednesday morning, it wandered onto an Irish Rail train. After workers realized the owner was not aboard, they took the dog to a particular station and then sent out a "Lost dog!" tweet:
Soon afterwards, Deirdre Anglin, tweeted "that's my dog!":
Irish Rail announced that they found the owner, just 32 minutes after posting the original:
And then there was the reunited post:
And, of course, now the dog has its own Twitter feed.
Oddly, it does seem worth noting that just days before, Deirdre had tweeted at the Irish Rail to find out about extra trains for an event. That appears to be the only time she tweeted at the Irish Rail since her account first appeared about a year ago. I'm guessing that's just a weird coincidence, though in this day of faux viral stories, it's at least worth noting...
Either way, assuming the story is accurate, it once again shows some of the unique power of modern communication technology -- even as some still continue to decry things like Twitter as useless. Prior to that, people could have posted a "lost dog!" message online, but the chances of it ever actually connecting with the owner were much more slim. But a service like Twitter, that makes it so easy to spread and share such info, creates the perfect conditions to make something like this happen.
Oddly, it does seem worth noting that just days before, Deirdre had tweeted at the Irish Rail to find out about extra trains for an event. That appears to be the only time she tweeted at the Irish Rail since her account first appeared about a year ago. I'm guessing that's just a weird coincidence, though in this day of faux viral stories, it's at least worth noting...
Either way, assuming the story is accurate, it once again shows some of the unique power of modern communication technology -- even as some still continue to decry things like Twitter as useless. Prior to that, people could have posted a "lost dog!" message online, but the chances of it ever actually connecting with the owner were much more slim. But a service like Twitter, that makes it so easy to spread and share such info, creates the perfect conditions to make something like this happen.
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Reader Comments (rss)
(Flattened / Threaded)
Sorry, couldn't resist
...So he's feeding off birds?
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Sorry, couldn't resist
...So he's feeding off birds?
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Re: Sorry, couldn't resist
((I use Google Chrome, that could be a reason))
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Re: Re: Sorry, couldn't resist
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Re: Sorry, couldn't resist
Seems like an interesting use....
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Well, yes and no. I follow about 300 people on Twitter, and I'll bet there's less than 50 I've ever tweeted to directly. Most of them are update feeds for companies or celebrities I'm interested in getting information from, but never feel the need to respond unless I want more info on something specific.
While the above might indicate a faux story, it might also simply be a case of her following their feed for news on special offers, etc., but never having felt the need to talk to them before.
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Re:
No feel good story can possibly be real...
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Back in the day before the Internet, I would have called the train company and asked if they had found a dog on one of their trains. They would have answered affirmatively, told me where I could pick him up, and I'd have my dog back.
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Re:
Would you honestly have been ringing train stations if you hadn't been near a train when the dog disappeared? I think not.
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Since I don't have a Tweeter account, or Facebook I pretty much guarantee I would never find that dog again.
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Mmmmm
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in this day of faux viral stories, it's at least worth noting...
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radio, newspaper, telegrams, barkers...yeah, no one ever used any technology before to find a lost item.....
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Re:
Oh noes. I've written a comment about nothing about a comment about nothing. Where will it end?
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Nice, touching story. Cute girl too.
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So I joined Twitter to see who else was affected, and instantly learned that it was felt up in LA and all the way out to AZ. I.e., huge - probably in the desert (which turned out to be the case). Most useful, it turns out.
Now when something big goes down, I go to Twitter first.
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our cave-man anscestors
Unless, I don't know, maybe she had given it a subcutaneous RFID ID chip. Or a GPS tracking device. Or an ear tattoo with her email address. Or a leathern collar with a small tag bearing her telephone number.
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Re:
There are, as there are Craigslist groups, etc., not to mention a huge number of local charities and so on (seriously, Google "lost pet" and see how many sites come up).
"With almost a billion people, you'd think there'd be a lost and found page."
A billion *worldwide*. Finding lost items is a completely local activity. It's hardly a lucrative area on a global basis as every single post will have a relatively tiny number of people who find them relevant. People aren't going to use a site to find their lost puppy in London or Beijing if most of the people posting there are in New York or Chicago...
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Re: our cave-man anscestors
Also, none of the options you suggest would have been available to "our caveman ancestors", so I'm not entirely sure what your point is.
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Newspaper: Because then the dog owner would have been found within 32 minutes...after receiving the paper...the next day.
Telegrams: Because Irish rail would have sent a telegram to everyone that has ever used Irish Rail.
Barkers: Because every barker would have been asked to spread this news as no other event would have superseded it in importance.
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Re:
Did you consider asking your sleeping giant artist friends to help you out? I think a few of them can afford to wake up just a bit!
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