A friend posted a humorous photo on Facebook the other day of a sign that read “In Case of Fire… Exit building before Tweeting about it.”  Hopefully it’s a made-up sign just to get a laugh, but the truth is actually closer than you think.  The intersection of the pervasiveness of mobile devices and the ubiquitous nature of social media is creating a tremendous amount of relevant data about the physical world not previously seen before – what is happening, where it’s happening, to whom, by whom in some cases and when.  Not usually early adopters, public safety officials are starting to take notice.

Here’s a real-world story: (more…)