If you’ve ever wondered about the power of social networking, you need wonder no more.

British photojournalist Jonathan Mitchell and friend of Industry Creative was detained in Nepal in March after being charged with possessing an invalid press visa, despite having been issued one by the authorities in May 2005.

Mitchell was presented with a fine equivalent to £8,000, or face 10 years behind bars. He was detained in an immigration jail, and news rapidly spread to England.

The news rapidly spread over social networking sites, with a Facebook group being set up in a bid to raise the required money to free Mitchell. The group caught the attention of people from all over the world, who were stunned into action to help the photjournalist.

Donations flew in by the minute, and the campaign soon made its way onto Twitter. With concern growing over Mitchell’s welfare, his plight was soon flagged up by high profile Members of Parliament, and also in various newspapers across the UK.

A host of celebrities added their name to the internet campaign in the hope of urgently freeing Mitchell. With his health deteriorating with acute typhoid, there were great fears that Mitchell might not survive much longer in such poor conditions.

Thanks to the power of social networking, the £8,000 was raised within a couple of weeks though, and Mitchell was allowed free by the Nepalese authorities.

After a slight flight delay due to the Eyjafjallajökull ash cloud, Mitchell has now been reunited with his friends and family in his native United Kingdom…

Chirp, the official Twitter Developer Conference kicked off today with Twitter co-founder Biz Stone running the audience through Twitter’s humble beginnings, from it’s early prototype drawings to its impact on earthquakes in Haiti and Chile.

According to Stone, their main criticism was that the service wasn’t useful; their response: “Neither is ice cream.”

Stone took listeners through the year, describing Twitter users as “a flock of birds in flight,” and discussing its breakthroughs at SXSW, in Iran, and even with an American abroad who used Twitter to get “himself out of prison.”

This month sees the second Social Boom – this time to be held in Manchester. The Walrus Bar in the Northern Quarter will play host to a Social Boom on Wednesday 28th April between 6pm-9pm.

“The whole ethos behind these new Social Booms is to provide regular gatherings where like-minded creative people can get together, network, share, collaborate and potentially win new business. Other than that, it’d just be nice to meet new people. See you on the 28th!”