I checked my laptop's Twitter stream around 10 PM Sunday evening for real-time news feeds. And, that's when Twitter informed me of Osama bin Laden's death in real-time.
Our Consumption and Participating in Real-Time News Drives a Traditional Industry's Transformation. I've reflected on the media activities of the past 48 hours. The picture above symbolizes more than the aftermath of September 11, 2011.
It galvanizes how we are both consumers and participants in the transformation and reinvention of a traditional industry (especially how we interact with news content):
- Searching / Learning
- Broadcasting and Sharing
- Consumption
Earth-Shattering Insight? No. But, how the Osama bin Laden news story unfolded in real-time presents an instructive case study for many tradtitional industries (not just journalism and publishing but also marketing, advertising, and public relations).
#1: Social Networks are Our Real-Time News Channels
More People Found Out About bin Laden's Death Via Twitter and Facebook. Mashable conducted a poll with 20,000+ respondents. Twitter and Facebook easily outdistanced television. Even broadcast television lacks the real-time impact of online media platforms.
Facebook's News Function Goal– Become "The People's Newspaper." I mentioned earlier how I consult Twitter for real-time news updates. It's no coincidence that Facebook also recognizes real-time news as a competitive differentiator.
According to this Fast Company article, Meet Facebook's Journalist Ambassador, the social network now accounts for more than 5% of traffic for many major news outlets. The article describes Vadim Lavrusik's role as Facebook's Journalist Ambassador.
Here's a Wall Street Journal video publicizing Facebook's recent hire of Vadim Lavrusik. Note Mr. Lavrusik's comment describing his intent to make Facebook "the people's newspaper."
Journalists on Facebook Page. The Journalists on Facebook Page is part of the company's strategy to build relationships with journalists. Notice how several status updates pertain to the bin Laden story:
#2: Mobile Devices are the Accepted Real-Time Publishing Platform (Especially the Smartphone)
According to this May 1, 2011, Fast Company article, Keith Urbahn, chief of staff for the office of the former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield, appears to be the first to have broken the news about bin Laden's death:
Urbahn Broadcasted the Tweet From His Smartphone. I'm not surprised Urbahn broadcasted the news on Twitter. But, notice the news broadcasting platform — his smartphone. Maybe, I'm old-fashioned in thinking the publication of a major news event requires a computer keyboard and wireless Internet connection.
#3 The Real-Time Marketing & PR Power Law
This TechCrunch article requires no explanation: Google Saw One Million Percent Increase In Searches For 'Bin Laden' on May 1. The article says Google's greatest traffic spike occurred between 7:30 and 8:30 pm PST (around the time the news broke on Twitter). TechCrunch graphed the number of Google queries by time. Look how the graph shares the properties and shape David Meerman Scott describes as The Real-Time Marketing & PR Power Law.
Looks Like Page 29 of David Meerman Scott's Real-Time & Marketing PR Book. Here's the graph from the TechCruch article. Notice how the spike in Google search queries correlates with the real-time announcement on Twitter and eventually trails off:
#4 The Real-Time Marketing & PR Law of Normal Distribution
Looks Like Pages 30 to 31 of David Meerman Scott's Real-Time Marketing & PR Book. This TechCrunch article, Bin Laden Announcement Has Highest Sustained Tweet Rate Ever, At 3440 Tweets Per Second, displays a graph of tweets per second the evening of May 1, 2011.
Notice how this graph shares several real-time attributes David Meerman Scott describes in his book (my notes are in red text):
- Breaking News
- Triggers
- Excitement
- Peak
- Old News
- Done
#5: The Blurring of Trusted, Traditional News Sources
Non-Traditional "Hard News" Sources Provide Diverse Points-of-View. Each of these organizations or individuals is a trusted news source pertaining to technology and online media. Their points-of-view blended their niches with this traditional "hard news" story:
Fast Company and Wired: Social Technology Related
Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land Blog: Google Now Versus Google on September 11, 2001
#6 We Share and Consume Powerful Images With Viral Speed
This Situation Room Image Will Be Burned in Our Minds Forever. This picture from the White House's Flickr account showing President Obama and his top advisors speaks volumes. According to a May 3rd TechCrunch article, the image garnered almost 1.6 million views:
An Important Historical Artifact. The TechCrunch article further states this image is probably the fastest viewed photo on Flickr. The image achieved its viewer volume in less than 38 hours.
Conclusion
How Did You Learn About the Osama Bin Laden Announcement? Were you on Twitter, Facebook, or another social network? Did you head right to Google News or did you go straight to a traditional news source (i.e., New York Times, BBC, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Bloomberg, etc.)?
I would love to understand your views on how the news unfolded.
A Historic Moment. This event marks an important time in United States history. Its unfolding in real-time portrays how we choose to publish, search for, and share historical events.
And, our use of social technology during this event reinforces the forever-changing, transformation of all media.