Toen social media nieuwswaardig werd.
‘On September 11th, 2001 I went to work as usual at the Woolworth Building, two blocks from the World Trade Center. It was a beautiful day, warm with a clear blue sky. I got to work around 8:30 a.m., sat down at my desk and turned on my computer. Then I heard a loud bang.‘ — Andy Chest.
‘I told her I was in Manhattan. “You’re in Manhattan?” she said weakly. “What the hell are you doing in Manhattan?” Yeah, mom, like I knew the fucking World Trade Center was going to blow up today.’ –Tinman
Gisterenavond zag ik op televisie een documentaire over de laatste telefoongesprekken die mensen, werknemers, voerden met hun thuisfront toen net ervoor een vliegtuig zich in de torens stortte. Als je het boek gelezen hebt van Scott Rosenberg (Say Everything) zul je weten hoe hij vertelt over hoe social media op 11 september 2001 in één klap bekend en gebruikt werd. Bloggers schreven hun persoonlijke verhaal op, maakten foto’s en video’s en gaven het nieuws nog eerder door dan de radio- en televisie zenders.
‘My office is on the 10th floor of a Soho building with large southern facing windows, so I have a full view of downtown. From my vantage, I see a huge hole where the first plane entered the north west tower from north to south. The south east tower was hit from the south to north. It is being reported that a plane or planes were hijacked and flown into the towers with passengers in them.’ — James Marino.
‘Looking over the East River, into downtown Manhattan, was a vision of armageddon itself. Normally, you can stand out on the promenade and have an unobstructed view from its southern tip to the Empire State Building in midtown without even moving your head. Now, the middle third of that panorama was blotted out by an enormous column of black smoke, rising in a solid mass to the middle of the sky, where it only began to disperse at the very apex of my vision. It was a hole torn in the world; an open portal into an unimaginable future. I remember thinking, as I walked past the trees and into the grip of that impossible sight: “My god, they really did it.’ — Purple Vengeance Version.
‘there is no way to explain what it was like to watch it all… to watch people falling from the building… it’s stuff that makes movies… things you get numb to until you acutally see it in real life. i think of war of the worlds with orson welles… my thoughts ranging from the stupidity of the heels i was wearing to the fact that my camera was no longer with me (lost it on my recent trip to mexico). How crazy it is to be blogging at this time, but i want to record it all.’ — Rion Nakaya.
Professionele journalistiek kon vanaf dat moment niet meer zonder de burgerjournalistiek.
Dit dagboek is verwijderd en uitgeveegd. …
gepubliceerd op 09.6.10 om 11:08 am onder persoonlijk, werk
[...] tijden van 9/11 waren er heel veel bloggers die registreerden wat er precies in hun omgeving gebeurd was. De persoonlijke en gedetailleerde [...]