A simple message, less than 140 characters, is sent out by a single individual to followers around the world, and within hours, perhaps minutes, more than 100 million people have been mobilized to act as never before.

Imagine an official Twitter account for the United States or Chinese Government, created with the specific purpose of mobilizing its citizens at a moment’s notice to respond to a natural disaster, military attack, or any number of other emergencies.

Then there’s the tweetnova, a single blast of information that causes not 100 million, but rather 1 billion people to act.