April 15, 2013: How Twitter Informed Us
In the early hours following the tragic events of April 15, Twitter was a powerful source of information. In the days that followed, Twitter continued to play an important role – though often as a source of misinformation.
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The first bomb exploded on Boylston Street near the Boston Marathon finish line at 2:49 pm.
The very first tweets weren’t the most informative.
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While it was immediately clear something had happened, it wasn’t clear exactly what.
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According to Twitter’s Media Blog, “The Boston Globe normally tweets around 40 times a day. Over the next few hours on April 15, they sent over 150 Tweets.’’
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Within minutes, victims were being transported to area hospitals.
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Photos began to emerge of the explosions.
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Runners who hadn’t completed the race were soon stopped.
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The race was canceled.
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Boston Police confirmed that an explosion had taken place.
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Additional information about the precise location of the explosions soon followed.
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All off-duty police officers were ordered to report for duty.
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What had happened remained unclear. Confusion and fear ran rampant.
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Numbers of injured soon were reported, and quickly rose as information became available.
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Meanwhile, at the JFK Library, a fire broke out, causing speculation that the events might be linked.
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With cell phone service spotty at best, meeting points were set up to reunite runners and their friends and families.
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The Boston Police Department was quickly using social media to gather information about the attack and was seeking anyone with video of the explosions.
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A no-fly zone was imposed over the area.
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Law enforcement encouraged runners and spectators to leave the area.
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Drivers were told by police to “evacuate the city.’’
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The Boston Globe confirmed that Martin Richard was among the victims.
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SWAT teams were positioned at area hospitals where bombing victims were being treated.
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Street closures were put in place around the Back Bay.
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The Boston Police Department announced that the FBI had taken over the investigation into the bombings.
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Three deaths were confirmed.
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Email at [email protected] or follow@lilsarg.
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