U.S. Southern Command announced this morning that the Navy carrier USS Carl Vinson had finally dropped anchor off the coast of Haiti to assist in the ongoing earthquake-relief effort. But you would have known that already, if you were following the tweets from Haiti.

Join Reddit’s Haiti relief fundraising drive *with Direct Relief International.*Around six hours ago, I got this Twitter update from friends Kira Kay and Jason Maloney, who were shooting a documentary on maternal health in Haiti. "Can see an aircraft carrier, presumably the Vinson, heading in towards PAP [Port-au-Prince]," they wrote. "Should be there soon."

When I last checked, the duo was heading to Port-au-Prince airport, where a U.S. military special operations team has taken over air traffic control and flight operations. Kay and Maloney aren't the only ones using these tools to get the word out: Our friend Christopher Albon, who studies the relationship between armed conflict, public health, and human security and blogs at ConflictHealth.com, has spotted some of the more prolific Twitter users on the ground like @RAMHaiti, @tilionel and @carelpedre.

Courtesy Twitter user Brandon Hockle, we also have a link to a Bing map that shows where some of the tweets are coming from in real time.

And of course, there's the Twitter hashtag #haiti, which has become a virtual firehose of information. Lots of good intentions, but remember: Online scams are already popping up. If you give, go through a reputable, established charity.

Photo: U.S. Southern Command

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