Boston Marathon Bombing - Social Media

I am from the Boston area.  I stood on the Boston Marathon route every year till I was an eighteen-year-old senior in high school, five times standing at the finish line waiting for people I knew to cross.  I was rocked by what happened Monday at the iconic race but now that I have had time to step back I noticed the power of both social media and handheld devices.

Anyone who watched the coverage of the Boston bombings knows that most on the video and pictures that CNN, NBC, and ABC were looping came from people on the scene with iphones or other small cameras.  The news networks were actually clamoring on twitter to have anyone who had pictures to send them in.  Deadspin.com had an excellent running feed with news and videos from the scene.  While some anchors jumbled through segments I was checking twitter and Deadspin to get the real story (http://deadspin.com/explosions-reported-at-the-boston-marathon-473008941).

Social media also connected people with there loved ones.  Cell phone coverage was shut off after the explosions for fear that cellular activity would set off other devices, so people were tweeting at each other what was happening at the crime scene. 

Such a horrific event was thoroughly covered by utilizing social media and eyewitness video.  Video (and pictures) that not only showed the terrible explosions but the quick and courageous response from police, medical personnel, and civilians. 

Sometimes I think tweets, things like CNN’s iReport, and crude iphone video are over used but Mondays coverage showed how they have a place in a world of journalism that lives on being as up to date as possible.