Western Union discontinues Telegrams

Yesterday's (well, really, last Friday's) Sign of the Apocalypse.

Probably old news to some, but I hadn't seen anything on Western Union canning Telegrams. I discovered it in a very roundabout way. My NewsGator Online RSS reader has a module on the left side that tracks "The Latest Buzz." Yesterday morning it showed the Wester Union item as having 91 incoming links, just ahead of the OSCAR.com's nominee list.

Here's the full top 5:

• Internet Explorer 7: Beta 2 Preview (236 incoming links)
  
• IE 7.0b2 available to the public (207 incoming links)
  
• IE7 Beta 2 worth the download (134 incoming links)
  
• Western Union has stopped sending telegrams after 145 years of offering the service (91 incoming links)
  
• OSCAR.com - 78th Annual Academy Awards - Nominee List (90 incoming links)
  

"What has this got to do with being an Online Editor?" you ask. Well, for one, buzz lists can be effective sources for story ideas.

Also, it shows how RSS readers and content distribution can be an aid audience acquisition. I never would have looked at LiveScience otherwise, and am intrigued enough by their content that I'm likely to revisit.