Twitter launches ‘Twitter Stories’ — How tweets help people

Twitter has launched the first in a series of what it calls, Twitter stories a new site that shares stories about people who have used the social network in an interesting way and positive ways.

“Read about a single Tweet that helped save a bookstore from going out of business; an athlete who took a hundred of his followers out to a crab dinner; and, Japanese fishermen who use Twitter to sell their catch before returning to shore. Each story reminds us of the humanity behind Tweets that make the world smaller,” said Twitter in a blog post.

Watch this video of Aaron Durand and how he saved his mother’s bookstore with one tweet:

Another interesting example comes in the form of Rebecca Chiao who revealed harassment while protecting the victims:

Rebecca Chiao created @harassmap to reveal harassment while protecting victims in Cairo. Fueled by her own experiences and a report by the ECWR, she teamed up with three Egyptian women and US-based technology partners to create an interactive map that charts the locations of sexual harassment through texts and Tweets sent in by victims.

Chiao hopes to expand the site to launch HarassMap around the globe.

Twitter asks users to help it uncover more stories like these ones. Users can submit their stories by mentioning @twitterstories or by using the hashtag #twitterstories. Users also need to include a link to a photo or video that helps illustrate the story to the world. Each month, Twitter will curate a selection of profiles to share.