RUM

Realtime User Messaging (not an alcoholic beverage). 

Best explained with an example.

See RUM on the NRC website

The Old Way

1:00 AM A tidal wave is about to hit.
1:20 AM A worried resident hears a rumour and looks at the website. It has not been updated yet.
3:00 AM After many calls the rumour has been confirmed
4:00 AM 12 bleary eyed website editors eventually hear about the emergency and start to edit.

RUM

1:00 AM A tidal wave is about to hit
1:10 AM The Red Cross feed is read automatically
1:10 AM The website emergency status is updated automatically on all subscribing websites
1:11 AM Social Media (e.g. Facebook) feeds are updated automatically with the emergency information.
1: 20 AM A worried resident looks at the website and knows exactly what is going on.