When folks such as Mitch Joel and Robert Scoble evangelize Facebook, many think that they're buying in to just another fad. However, it seems that the power that social media has to keep us connected is not only real, but powerful enough to save lives. In fact, making your Facebook account Twitter enabled may mean the difference between life and death. As an Associate Press story on MSNBC reported this past weekend:

NEW YORK - When a masked freshman came to campus at St. John's University with what police said was a loaded rifle sticking out of a bag, the school alerted students via cell-phone text messages within 18 minutes.

And when a suicidal gunman was reported to be on the loose at the University of Wisconsin, the school sent out mass e-mails and took out an ad on Facebook to warn students. [emphasis mine]

Indeed, using Facebook to send out warning say a lot about just how much users rely on the service to get connected. But when it comes to life saving communiques, mobile devices obviously have much more potential. As the article continues, following the Virginia Tech tragedy:

[...] hundreds of schools administrations have installed text-messaging systems to communicate with students.

Omnilert, a company based in Leesburg, Va., saw its business surge after the Virginia Tech rampage. It is now supplying more than 250 colleges and universities around the country with instant messaging capability — a system called e2Campus.

St. John's purchased its inCampuAlert text-messaging system from a California company called MIR3 Inc. over the summer, also in response to the Virginia Tech slayings.

The system sends a message not only to cell phones, but also to digital signs in public places like student unions or dorms, as well as to computers, PDAs and beepers.

It would seem, then, that North Americas lack of mobile integration is a life-or-death matter. After all, part and parcel of Twitter's potential to keep users connected with their communities is its mobile readiness.