Why did the student "tweet" about it?
I looked at her tweets - I think she works in the office. Tweeting is second-nature to many of these people. One minute she is tweeting about a birthday cake (hers?), and the next minute something like:
OMG - someone shooting.
Kids running everywhere!
Then later:
I’m fine. Physically. On a bus being evacuated.
Tweets are the most effective and instantaneous way of getting a message out.
although the media probably found out about the shooting not through twitter but by listening to police radio chatter, the next step for them to find first-hand accounts is not facebook, but twitter, which is open for everyone to see.
Because that’s what the “children” do these days.