Norway, 27 Club and Twitter
As reports of the parliament building bombing in Norway filtered through the newswires on Saturday, most of us carried on with our day unaware that this was only the tip of the horrific massacre that was yet to unfold at the youth camp in Utoya, Norway. While police didn’t immediately report the time it took Anders Behring Breivik to reach the camp where he shot dead more than 90 people, reports of the shooting began appearing on Twitter about two and a half hours after the bombing.
The prevalence of Twitter during these horrific incidents is apparent with hashtags such as #norway, #terrorist, #oslo and #oslobomb, #Breivik and #andersbreivik trending worldwide.
Anti-terrorism Twitter profiles were also quick to respond to the crisis including @NTARC, the official Twitter account of the National Terror Alert Response Center, @TerrorismWatch, and @DHSJournal, the official verified Twitter account of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Anders Breivick has a Twitter profile @andersBBreivick which shows a single, yet ominous, tweet: “One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100,000 who have only interests”.
Later that day Twitter broke the news of the death of troubled soul-diva Amy Winehouse before any of the news networks and online newswires. Theory and speculation regarding the cause of her death abounds while the hashtag #27Club continues to trend worldwide.
Amy Winehouse joins the ‘27 Club’ along with other musical geniuses including Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain, who all died at the age of 27.
The Hollywood Twitterati were quick to share their 140 character tributes to the singer, known as much for her drug and alcohol fuelled antics as her music.
Kim Kardashian - “I just heard the news that Amy Winehouse passed away. What a true talent. I pray she’s in a better place & at peace”
Demi Lovato - “Amy Winehouse… So sad. Unfortunately the world lost an incredibly talented woman to such a powerful disease… addiction. #RIP”
Rihanna - “Dear God have mercy!!! I am SICK about this right now! #DearAmy”
Demi Moore - “Truly sad news about Amy Winehouse. My heart goes out to her family. May her troubled soul find peace”
Jessica Alba - “So sad about Amy Winehouse -she was so talented. Really tragic”
Kelly Osbourne - "I can't even breathe right my now I'm crying so hard i just lost 1 of my best friends. I love you forever Amy & will never forget the real you.”
"I miss my friend! im going to be off twitter for a while thank you for all your support! #Pray4Amy
Quietening critics far and wide, Twitter is certainly a far call from the sharing of inconsequential, trivial information as initially touted. It has firmly established itself as an integral component of the news cycle for media, politicians, celebrities and news junkies alike. Twitter is a force to be reckoned with and looks like it’s here to stay.