Death at the Speed of Tweets.

After spending some time reflecting on our class presentations, I began writing this blog post at 9:00 pm. I had intended to focus on social media's impact on journalism, connecting it somewhat tangentially to it's effect on government, by ways of the dolphin presentation.

To do some "field research" (procrastinate) I logged into both my Facebook and Twitter accounts. After some social media scanning and little bit of "Facebook creeping" I began to write. However, as as I did so, I noticed the updates beginning to pile up in the Twitter tab of my browser. Diligently I pressed onward refusing to be distracted, but two, then four, then fifteen and soon thirty or more new tweets had been posted within a matter of minutes. My curiosity got the best of me, and I switched my browser over to my Twitter news feed... I found myself immersed in a media frenzy.

The first tweet was simple from a friend and future journalist "Friends -- looks like something is about to go down. Turn on your TVs. Obama speaks at 10:30." Shortly following it were posts and tweets by others of a similar nature. There was speculation about a meteor headed for earth and other doomsday or war related announcements. I immediately opened two mainstream media new sites and one live streaming broadcast. Then one tweet reads "Apparently word is that Osama is dead" shortly after tweets from CNN and MSNBC follow confirming that although the president was still preparing the formal announcement, that it was indeed about Osama Bin Laden. However, they could not confirm that he was dead. Meanwhile, tweets filled my feed stating that he had been shot in the back of the head, the body was in the possession of the US Army and that the president would be addressing the nation at 11pm. The mainstream news broadcasts were in fact reading tweets I had read 25 minutes prior as their "Breaking News Updates". Then, after much speculation and mind numbing repetition on the part of the live broadcast, a tweet from President Obama himself entered my Twitter feed saying that he would be addressing the nation shortly and to tune in...15 minutes later he was streaming in live from the White House to my laptop computer.

In the aftermath there were live streams and photos being "re-tweeted" and posted everywhere I looked. With a matter of clicks and moments I could be standing in a crowd at ground zero or at the foot of a tree in front of the White House. EVERYONE had something to say or share about the news from:

"Apparently Osama forgot to turn off location on his tweets" and "Sources say that Obama will also announce a 50 state tour where he will, "High-five the shit out of everyone in America."

to

"Was just told that New York City Firefighters are in the streets and are marching toward Ground Zero" and "CNN reporting that President Obama will say that Osama Bin Laden has been killed"

Three hours later I am here, dazed and bewildered with an irritating twitch that won't leave my right eye. I had been sucked into a whirlwind of citizen journalism that, to be honest, I am still struggling to process. I have just experienced a shift in my worldview and what I understand to be the future of news, discourse and human interaction in the public sphere. As I write this blog I am trying to find a way to piece it together into a cohesive thought or idea. What it makes me realize most is that in a world with media created and distributed at this speed there is not much time to process before you post because it is happening, and it is happening now.

One tweet in particular that helps define this experience for me was posted by a girl I don't know who was re-tweeted by a friend of mine.

ElanaRoth

retweeted by HannahMalynn

"CNN says we'll always remember where we were when we heard this news. Yes. My couch. Reading Twitter. 20 min before the actual announcement"

On a lighter note, here is some more social media created and posted 30 minutes after Obama's speech was aired. The description reads: "Barack Obama's Osama Bin Laden speech was epic but his walk up to the podium was even better." Ladies and gentlemen I give you

"Presidential Swag"

What a strange world we live in. God Bless America.