A 2011 Retrospective Through the Millions of Eyes of Twitter [VIDEO]

2011 was a year of big news. Political revolutions, natural disasters, astounding innovations, stories of inspiration, hope and loss -- all of it was captured and disseminated in real time on Twitter.

The information network came of age in 2011, with more mainstream adoption, a couple of redesigns and new traffic records. What was once a simple stream is now a dynamic site of suggestions, connections and multimedia.

For those of us who rely on Twitter to see and share what's happening now, the news of the world arrives in little 140-character packets. And when big news breaks, the packets start flying.

The video above is a 2011 retrospective look at the big stories, as seen through the tweets that broke and shaped them. It comes to us courtesy of our friend Jeremiah Warren.