The lessons learned following the Boston Marathon bombings were many, but one lesson that was learned rather quickly was that Twitter was going to become the go-to platform for gathering timely and accurate information from city, state and federal officials regarding the rapidly unfolding events of that week. As such, Twitter allowed Boston’s hotels to communicate reliable information to their guests and employees.
The Boston Police have been hailed for their success in using Twitter. Before the bombings, the Boston Police Twitter account had about 54,000 followers, but in just the 36 hours following the bombings, this grew to more than 330,000 followers. The account reportedly reached nearly 49 million people during the nearly week-long ordeal.