I remember it like yesterday; where I was and the jumbled reactions I had to sight of the planes hitting the World Trade Center towers on the TV before my sophomore history class began. Dumbstruck. Restless. Horrified.
I remember when we dropped the first bombs on Afghanistan in retaliation. It was late on a school night. I couldn't unglue my gaze from the sight of light exploding on the muddled green backdrop of the TV screen.
I remember when we got the bad guy.
It's incredible to think how the information landscape has transformed in a decade; from finding out via television and finding out via Twitter. The refresh button on my browser became the gateway to information overload of one of the most important events in U.S. history to date.
This is how my night went:
I was following #Caps during the game to see how my fellow fans were reacting to the overtime play.
Crushed at their loss, I refreshed the page to do a final check of my feed before I turned in for the night.
BreakingNews Breaking News
White House: The president to make statement at 10:30pm ET; subject not announced - AP
I thought that was incredibly strange and foreboding. I stuck it out to confirm that my suspicions of a bin Laden capture were spot on. Within minutes, the posts went from "subject not announced" to "issue of national security" to "Osama bin Laden."
At this point in my feed, everything is still speculation- no media outlets have confirmed.
jacksonjk Jill Jackson
House Intelligence committee aide confirms that Osama Bin Laden is dead. U.S. has the body.
Within minutes, the news is confirmed.
andersoncooper Anderson Cooper
Cnn reporting bin laden is dead.
My Twitter feed exploded with hundreds of new posts and retweets every minute. Friends on Twitter found out the news first, posted on their Facebook walls "Get to a TV NOW" and soon the news spread like wildfire.
Waiting for the news conference (which was delayed an hour) gave me plenty of time to sift through the heavy news and laugh at the clever posts that made light of the situation.
gregstowers Greg Stowers
hopefully osama didn't make any horcuxes.... #sixmoretogo
MyNameisRazzle Razzle
RT @Digeratii: BATMAN HAS NO JURISDICTION.
Scobleizer Robert Scoble
Another joke going around? Donald Trump is demanding Osama's death certificate.
misconstrue Richard Melo
This weekend is straight out of Shakespeare, bookended with a royal wedding and the death of a tyrant
I was tuned into CNN as the anchors tried their hardest to kill time and not speculate before the press conference. Footage of a few tourists chanting "U-S-A" in front of the White House turned into hundreds and then thousands of young people who were keyed into their social media outlets at the late hour. Generation Y owned the information sharing. Action takes only an instant these days.
Facebook Friend Statuses:
is taking an 8-block walk to join everyone singing the national anthem in front of the White House.
is headed to the White House!!!!!
After the much-anticipated speech, I couldn't sleep. New developments were flooding my computer and TV screen. My friends were downtown reveling in the excitement- I was not passing up the opportunity. The roomie and I hit the road around 12:30 pm.
Tweeting in the moment:
JMUswag JMUswag
Walking down Constitution in my PJs. People honking their horns like crazy! !!
JMUswag JMUswag
Yes We Did! Where's bin laden?! chants
JMUswag JMUswag
Have cheered the pledge of allegiance, sung the SSB and God Bless The USA.
JMUswag JMUswag
Guy out his car door on Constitution "Which way is the White House?" Crowd "That wayyyyyy!!"
JMUswag JMUswag
BTW So many hot young guys in the crowd tonight. Where do they go for the other 364 days/nights of the year?!
JMUswag JMUswag
@JuliaFarina and I decided to be responsible adults and come back home because we have work tomorrow. DC visit? Totally worth it!
I also fed pics to my Twitpic account which didn't upload until much later (probably due to the call volume in our vicinity). After getting home, I uploaded the pics from my DSLR onto Facebook so the people that missed out on the late night news could see first hand the epicness of the night.
Back from the White House with Julie Farina. SO EXHILARATING!
I guess that's how it's done in Generation Y's post-9/11 world.
