It’s rapidly become the media’s new favourite internet punchbag – but on Thursday night, the much-ballyhooed microblogging service Twitter will attempt to prove that

it’s more than a waste of time for compulsive over-sharers. In over 175 cities around the world, from Manchester to Mumbai and Jerusalem to Johannesburg, Twitterers will come together with the goal of raising $1million for charity. And to have a party, of course. – the brainchild of London-based Twitterers Amanda Rose, Tim Hoang, Ben Matthews and Tom Malcolm, who also organised the original Twestival in London last September – was organised entirely by volunteers through Twitter in a matter of weeks. All the money raised – from tickets, donations, raffles and t-shirt sales – goes to , which provides clean drinking water for people in developing nations. Running alongside the event is music website , billed as ‘Twitter does Live Aid’ – featuring donated tracks from bands such as Bloc Party and The Rakes, which users can download on a ‘pay what you like’ basis. Ev Williams, the co-founder of Twitter, said: ‘We at Twitter are constantly amazed at the daily initiatives, events, movements and moments we see on Twitter, but Twestival has blown us away.’
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