Social Media – Leads the Way on Mumbai Terror
Comments(0) Interesting story coming out about the terrible events in Mumbai, it appears that social media sites such a Twitter and flickr were inundated with messages and videos from the scene, more so than even the more traditional sources of news such as CNN could carry. Reports from Twitter were that people who were either trapped or close by the tragedy were blogging reports and updates from the scene. Apparently at the height of the attacks, more than 80 messages or “Tweets” as they are called, were being sent to twitter.com via sms every 5 seconds, providing eyewitness accounts and updates. Users sent pleas for blood donors and some were even asked to help transcibe the names of the dead and injured, which were then listed online.
However, there is another side to this and that is the number of ugly unsubstantiated reports and inaccuracies. Numbers of those killed and reported on twitter varied and numbers were reported as high as 1000 at one stage.
What can’t be ignored though is the obvious impact that social media sites have on engaging and reporting on news items such as the events in Mumbai and tragedies and natural disasters, although you have to remember that the information is often unsubstantiated and subject to the wild rantings of users.
Social media has come of age and it is showing itself to be very influential tool however inaccurate, at times, it may be.
