But you know that if he chose the latter distribution route, we would also have a huge theme now reverberating through the blogosphere that THIS was the event that signalled the power shift from old media to new, which would have made this post’s sub-theme even stronger.

I think the difference between MySpace and Facebook is quite clear. Facebook is about creating a social interaction in almost near real time. MySpace, well … whatever.

thanks for your insights. i think it is obvious that you didn’t read the piece, because it talks about how facebook is where those impacted by the tragedy turned to. I think it is a post that showcases how the internet-based medium are becoming more pervasive in our lives.

If one looks back to 1927 when the bath school house disaster happened: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_School_disaster

One could imagine that during that it most likely took days to reach other areas of the US and probably weeks, if not months to hit the news of other countries – if at all.

Again – it is sad. But I think this does illustrate the original intent of the post to show how small our world has become based on the interconnectivity and the rate mass-media can proliferate.

This story was a waste of time.

Uh, yes – it’s been possible. Just depends upon how much morbid curiosity overrides your normal search for information and understanding of the world around us.

Terrible event? You betcha. So was the violent end to another couple hundred lives in Iraq. Daily.

Interesting events and topics? They never end. Y’all cover many – which is why I drop by.

I’m not making a critical interpersonal analysis here, folks. Just a sociological observation. GigaOM didn’t try to turn into MySpace – and I would presume the usual breadth and depth of life interests prevailed.

Professional reporters move toward shooting all the time — that is how AP, Reuters, Agence France Presse and others get pictures and stories from war zones, countries in turmoil. But the are paid professionals who know the risks, and balance personal safety with getting the story or the photo. Is it worth getting shot to get fame as CNN’s cell phone camera-holder? Lack of common sense and not the media will be to blame.

Good points Paul. But that does not excuse journalists such as Michael Sneed at the Chicago Sun-Times for spreading misinformation BEFORE the facts were made public. Sneed said that the shooter was from Shanghai and insinuated that the person was Chinese and was in the U.S. on a Visa issued by Shanghai. Obviously this is not the case, and Sneed was quoted by so many other news agencies and this misinformation spread for a while. It caused people, particularly Chinese people, both inside and outside of America to start feeling sad and upset. The question is if Liz and Om are going to allow me to publish this comment here on this blog (they blocked my first attempt) or are they going to censor because they want to cover the very bad miscue of the Chicago Sun-Times for which Snee has yet to offer an apology. It is very upsetting when anyone (mass media or Web 2.0 citizen journalists) spread misinformation before the facts are made available. You rarely see stand-up true reporting and news agencies such as Reuters and Associated Press spreading misinformation before the facts have been verified!

“Hitwise reported that Virginia Tech’s Facebook Web site experienced a 555% increase in visitors on Monday, compared to Sunday’s traffic. Compared to the previous Monday, traffic was up 407%, according to figures Hitwise released Wednesday.

Let me first say that my thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims of this tragic event.

I want to start by saying I have a huge issue with Facebook and Myspace on this. You may be thinking to yourself “huh? Why would you have an issue, people are using them to communicate”. My issue is that these sites are getting tons of press and page hits from this event”.

Please join me in the call to end profit from tragedy…

Here in fact is the original link and an excerpt of the quote from Michael Sneed:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/sneed/344393,CST-NWS-SNEED17.article

The 25-year-old man being investigated for the deadliest college carnage in U.S. history reportedly arrived in San Francisco on a United Airlines flight on Aug. 7, 2006, on a visa issued in Shanghai, the source said. Investigators had not linked him to any terrorist groups, the source added.

Isn’t it journalism 101 that journalists are only supposed to report the FACT and NOT speculation? Its a fantastic world we live in when people can push back against the old mass media dinosaurs who used to think they could rule the world as the news “gatekeepers”. If Michael Sneed isn’t fired for spreading mis-information before the facts were truly available, then perhaps the blogosphere of social networks, and the wisdom of crowds, will truly usurp the jobs of dinosaurs. Good riddance!

I did not even bother with any MSM because I expect to see some reporting motivated by some sort of political agenda.

One thing I have to say for sure is that although most social networks get blamed for child abuse cases, stalking and other social evils, this time, everyone will appreciate the fact that they’re important in our lives and that like every tool used by humans, it can be used for the good or bad intentions.

May God bless the families of those whose lives were brutally taken away.

I am not all that sure that things like this are good, and sooner or later someone will get hurt or killed and I think media will be at least partly responsible.