SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. -- Don't look now, but the microblogging site Twitter is going mainstream as you read this. The hurricane Gustav -- which is creating an urgent need for instant, broad-based information from a wide range of locations -- has proved something of a "perfect storm" for Twitter. Tune in to CNN, and it's likely they'll be showing you a Twitter feed.

Twitter has until now been something of a niche medium, the realm of social media gurus and Silicon Valley types, but not well known beyond the technosphere. But all that is changing because of Hurricane Gustav. Here's what's happening:

1. In a crisis like a hurricane, who ever has the most eyeballs in the most places can report the best information.

2. A CNN reporter named Rick Sanchez has embraced Twitter with a vengance, calling on Twitter users to feed him information from the hurricane zone. As a result, he has the best reporting on the storm, and is actually showing Twitter conversations full screen on CNN (see screenshot below).

3. Twitter users have been throwing around resources for monitoring the hurricane, almost as if blown by the hurricane itself.

4. All good information spreads like an insta-virus on Twitter, making it easily the best source of information about Gustav.

5. People actually in the hurricane zone have demonstrated that they don't want to wait for authorities or the media to get emergency information, so they're getting it on Twitter.

All these factors add up to something of a "perfect storm" for microblogging as a medium in general and for Twitter in particular.

Congratulations, Twitter. You're mainstream. I hope discovery by the masses this week won't wreck what's good about you.