As I've already stated in these pages, Italians make heavy use of English words, especially where the new information/telecommunications technology is concerned. Starting with the word computer.
They go so far as to actually make verbs out of these words. For example, Twitter has become a verb, twitterare, where we would say "to tweet,"- that is, to send one of the micro-messages out from their site to various people. It is reported that Sunday's earthquake in Abruzzo was actually first reported on Twitter before the traditional media (which are sure taking a beating these days, including the recent news that my hometown paper, The Boston Globe, may be closing.) Twitter has a search function by keyword (if the writer has tagged the message), so that it is possible to search under certain subjects or names. Facebook has also set up dozens of groups regarding the earthquake, to share information or to organize aid.
