Yesterday was an interesting day for Sydney. In the late afternoon, from about (4-5pm) my Twitter account started going crazy with updates. Unbeknownst to myself at the time, on the other side of the Harbour Bridge, a massive blackout had occured across some of Sydney’s CBD. Hash tags were in every second tweet from my Sydney followers updating me in real time of the situation. Reports of people trapped in lifts, the status of the Sydney CityRail train line, and most importantly, how the situation was being handled.
This kind of information or notifications system would not be possible unless there was a network of people using one system to alert friends and the general public of events happening in their lives. Whilst some tweets were referencing articles on the major news websites, there was no real need (or desire) on my part to click through - all the information I needed was in 140 characters.
My attention wasn’t diverted too far away from my current task at hand, I did not have to wait until I got home from work and plonk myself down infront of the television, because I was kept abreast of the situation from my desktop Twitter client.
And whilst all this was happening, I realised to myself that I cannot remember when I devoted a morning - infact any period of time - to reading a newspaper. And then I had an even larger revelation that I haven’t dedicated any time to any major news channel or news show to inform me of what happened in my day.
It makes logical sense that my social network updates me of the news. And more importantly the news I care about. My core friends and I share events that happen in our social circle that included BBQs, dinner parties and nights out on the town between ourselves because we can inform and experience those events together.
I can now be informed about what is happening in the world via my online social network, by making connections with people that share like interests with me and make a point of sharing their experiences and information that can be of interest to me.
The newspaper cannot do that. Mass Media is officially dead to me.
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