Reading, Writing, and Reflecting

In the last 3 and half months, we’ve all had what I call Twitter days.   Glorious Twitter days.   Real life events that spur a frenzy of Twitter activity which just draws and sucks you in for sometimes good and sometimes bad reasons.   Times where you are constantly hitting the refresh button on Twitter to:

• See the next insight
• Learn the newest detail
• Have the next laugh
• Share in the disbelief
• Grieve with the world
• Experience the drama
• Join in the awe and amazement.

These were the glorious Twitter days I experienced:

1. April 15, 2013:Boston Marathon Bombing–  A horrific day that unfolded real-time on Twitter, first with details of the blasts, followed by the police search and chase of the terrorists,  speculation and misidentification of the bombers, and finally the capture of the remaining living terrorist.   Disbelief, Captivating Drama and Extreme Sadness rolled into a hectic few days.
2. June 18, 2013: Miracle Miami Heat NBA finals win against San Antonio Spurs–   The mighty Miami Heat, starring of course Lebron James, were down and out, a few seconds away from falling to the Spurs in the NBA finals.  A miraculous 3 pointer gave the Heat an improbable and historic victory and spared Lebron an avalanche of criticism and venom about his character and legacy.  Sports fans in my Twitter timeline were dumbfounded and in awe of what they just witnessed
3. June 25, 2013:  Wendy Davis filibusters the Texas Senate-  What starts out as a local story in Texas turns into a national social media phenomenon when Davis, a Texas state senator famously wearing pink shoes, holds a ten hour long filibuster to block legislation that would create new abortion regulations in Texas.  As midnight approached, drama erupted as Republicans claim filibuster rules were violated, vocal protestors filled the physical state senate, and confusion reigns on whether a vote actually. Admiration and Anticipation filled Twitter timelines across the country.
4. July 5, 2013:NBA Free Agency; The Dwightmare finally ends–  The NBA’s silly season of free agency was abuzz on Twitter with scoop after scoop by NBA journalists with the latest on the recruitment of Dwight Howard; the flipping and flopping, confirmation and then contradictory alternate report led to at times comical but alluring real time play by play of the future of many NBA teams.
5. July 6, 2013: Asiana Airlines crash at SFO-  The shocking crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 at San Francisco International Airport played out real time on Twitter.  Initial reports and pictures were posted by passenger David Eun, a Samsung executive, on photo sharing site Path, and then spread like wild fire through the Twitterverse.   Living near SFO and being able to see the airport from my home, but being out of town that day, the story took an added level of disbelief and shock for me.
6. July 11, 2013: Sharknado Airs-   I’ve yet to see this movie originally airing on Syfy channel , but the mixture of tornados and sharks shook Twitter that night.   Apparently, comically bad, it’s now hit epic cult like status spurred by the reaction on Twitter that night.

These events can range from extreme tragedy like the Boston Marathon bombings to extreme silliness like Sharknado.    Some of the events are niche events that only a subset of whom I follow would appreciate and some so mainstream that all niches will take note and comment..   In any case, its days like these that its clear to me that Twitter has transformed how I experience mainstream events, and that way will be here to stay.