Who would have dreamed one tweet would set off a huge story?

It began all so innocently when Daina Falk sent out one little tweet. In that, she said that the 'Seattle Kings were a done deal.' I'm not quoting word for word, but you get the idea. One tweet gave a story such legs, it sent journalists scrambling to cover the big sports story of the day in Seattle and Sacramento. Without the speculation about the team's future in Sacramento leading off the newscasts in California's Capital City, who knows what the top story was unless you were there. Reporters went out on the street to get reaction about the impending/potential of the Sacramento Kings. Even though that tweet was removed, it didn't prevent respected reporters like Yahoo! sports reporter Adrian Wojnarowski reporting that the sale was nearly a done deal. I first heard about the story as I ususally do, listening to Sirius/XM satellite radio on my way to work Wednesday Afternoon. It stunned me that a deal like that could be underway because I had not been made aware of it by SportsCenter, online news sources, sports talk radio, or even in the back end of my local sports page. What if that tweet never got sent out in the first place? I mean, if nobody picked up on that tweet, nobody would have talked about rumors about the Kings leaving Sacramento for Seattle as much people did yesterday. I got my fill of how Sacramento's local news channels (via the internet) covered the Kings even being mentioned as "for sale" and what the implications could be if they were sold and later moved. Too many things have to happen before a sale of an NBA franchise can be consummated. Too may I's have to be dotted and too many T's have to be crossed before a transaction can become final. Also, the deadline to file an application for relocation is March 1st. That alone could make a relocation problematic if the team and potential new ownership wants to play in Seattle in time for the 2013-2014 season. To me, the only way that this story advances is that the Maloof family makes a statement on whether or not the Sacramento Kings are for sale. Until then, this story does not advance. The power of social media is real and it is here to stay. It can be a valuable tool to get the latest scoop on news stories or it can be a dartboard where rumors go to land. Either way, it has changed the landscape of journalism forever. In this case, it has given voice to a story that either could have gotten buried forever or simply delayed the time when the news would break.