Twitter updates are used to communicate everything from birthday wishes to political opinions. But there are some special, shining cases where the status update has been used to do some extraordinary things, from marriage proposals to breaking news, and much more.

The following are 10 of the most extraordinary and creative uses of Twitter updates. These amazing updates have made the news, pushed the boundaries of what the status update can do, and have even fundamentally changed people's lives.

This post is part of a Mashable mini-series providing analysis of social media’s smallest big trend: the status update. The series is supported by the TurboTax SuperStatus Contest, which invites you to win up to $25K for an interesting Twitter or Facebook message.

1. The marriage proposal











On May 28th, Max Kiesler asked Emily Chang for her hand in marriage. And with three little words, she accepted his proposal.

Yes, in two little status updates, a couple got engaged. Even the Mashable team was a little stunned. What a way for two social media lovers to become forever connected. The bonus was that thousands of people got to be part of their special moment.

Others have gotten engaged using Twitter, including @garazi to @stefsull and earlier this year, @grobertson to @film_girl.

2. Tweeting from the womb









When is it too early to let your kids tweet? Well, if you're Corey Menscher's kid, it's never too early. Corey's kid was tweeting at 6 months....before he was even born. Corey created a device and a Twitter account, kickbee, which sent out tweets anytime the kid (Tyler) kicked his mom.

Tyler, born on January 19th, 2009, now "tweets" from his new account, minimensch.

This extraordinary use of Twitter updates to track baby development is just one example of extraordinarily unique applications of status updates that people have developed.

3. The tweet from Mars









When ice was found on Mars, how did the news break? By the New York Times? No. By the TV news networks? No. A blog? Wrong again. The news broke that ice was discovered on Mars by the Twitter account of the Mars Phoenix Lander.

The Mars Phoenix Lander was a NASA JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) vessel designed to collect information on Mars, specifically whether or not it could support life or even if it has life on it now. The NASA JPL team sent out status updates as the Phoenix Lander, talking about what it found on the 4th planet from the sun. The response was overwhelming, with tens of thousands of followers and increased visibility for the Mars mission and Twitter.

The Mars Phoneix Lander is truly the first to post status updates from another world.

4. Status updates for a worthy cause









Can people change the world for the better in 140 characters? The answer is a clear and definitive yes. Not only can they change the world, but they already have, by mobilizing people towards worthy causes. Twestival was a worldwide event on February 12th to bring Tweeters together and raise money for Charity: Water (and a cause we were proud to support). The result of all of these tweets? Over $250,000 raised for clean water across the globe.

This is not the only charity event held through Twitter. Tweetsgiving raised $10,000 to build a classroom in Tanzania and Tweet-a-thon was a 12-hour marathon of video and tweeting that raised money for Water is Life. It's clear that the status update can drive people to come together and give a piece of themselves for a greater cause.

5. The Egyptian arrest case









On April 10th, 2008, James Karl Buck and his translator were arrested by the Egyptian police while covering an anti-government protest. James, a grad student from Berkeley, was able to tweet one word while being taken away by Egyptian authorities: Arrested. This one update sparked his friends and followers into action, eventually leading to his university hiring a lawyer on his behalf and his release a day later.

This is proof that one update, even if it's a single word, can mobilize people to action and change the course of events.

6. Breaking the news first









It can take hours to write a good news article or blog post, 30 minutes to write a breaking news article, and even 5 minutes to write a couple lines to break the story. With status updates, it takes a matter of seconds. This has enabled Twitter to break news even before the news stations.

Since just one example won't suffice, here are several:

The status update fundamentally impacted how news is broken and tracked by the public.

7. The job offer









Twitter is a great place to find a job, but RedMonk, an open-source analyst and consulting firm, took things a step further when it offered Tom Raftery a full-time position at the company...via a Twitter update. He accepted the offer.

It's extraordinary how a few tweets can land people jobs.

8. Preventing Tragedy









On April 3rd, 2009, there was a scare when a woman sent a tweet threatening suicide to actress and frequent Twitter user Demi Moore.

Moore's response? Hope you are joking, followed by a retweet of the message. Her thousands of followers quickly pinpointed the probable location of the woman and alerted authorities, who brought her in for hospitalization and psychological evaluation.

It's not just about the extraordinary tweet, but about the reaction and mobilization a 140 character string can spark.

9. The John McCain interview









Interviews tend to be long-winded affairs, and can be even longer when a politician is the one being interviewed. How do you cut the interview down to the meat and bones, without all of the frills and political jargon? By limiting questions and responses to 140 characters, of course.

On March 17th, ABC News's George Stephanopoulos interviewed Senator John McCain on Iraq, the economy, and his family via Twitter @reply messages. The interview was a unique experiment in many respects: answers had to be brief and thousands of people would be watching in real-time.

The experiment is in the books, but as more and more people look to Twitter for information, expect more Twinterviews and other great experiments utilizing the constraints of the status update.

10. The first update









Of course, none of these extraordinary updates would be possible if it weren't for the first Twitter update and for the innovations that made it possible.

The first Twitter status update ever sent on March 21st, 2006 by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey.

Extraordinary status updates: What's in store?

It's hard to believe that the status update is only a few years old. But in that time span, millions of people have updated their status billions of times. As social media grows more and more popular, the status update will be central in how our culture interacts and grows.

Have more extraordinary Twitter updates to bring to our attention? Tell us about them in comments.

This post is part of a Mashable mini-series providing analysis of social media’s smallest big trend: the status update. The series is supported by the TurboTax SuperStatus Contest, which invites you to win up to $25K for an interesting Twitter or Facebook message.

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Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Cronick