Almost.at is a site that follows “people at real-world events in real-time.” Tracking data from sites like, Twitter, YouTube and Flckr, one can see a live feed of user-generated content about a specific event.
I’ve been sort of searching for a tool like this. When Iranian citizen journalists reported on the unfolding post-election protests this summer, I tried to bypass CNN and witness the web journalism first-hand. I wish I had known about this site then.
At the 2009 VMA’s, MTV included segments of Twitter coverage as part of the broadcast. Using Almost.at, I could have witnessed the more than 5,000 Tweets that occured within 30 seconds of the Taylor Swift-Kanye West fiasco. When a major event is in progress, Almost.at feels very bubbly and alive; when nothing is going on, the site seems kind of stagnant. (The Almost.at moderator determines which events get covered, but encourages viewers to submit event ideas.)
Twitterfall is a similar site, which allows viewers to use search terms to find related Tweets. If you’ve ever wanted to know who’s Tweeting something in real time (a company name, a person, your favorite movie, etc), this is a good site to visit. I like to use it whenever I feel like checking Twitter’s pulse on a current event. You can also view Tweets by geolocation, which is a neat feature if you’re looking for Twitter users close to you.
