Wow.
Today I experienced that thing about Twitter which so many people rave about. I watched, in real time, as history was made - following the hash tag, my home page bumping up every few seconds with another 20 tweets, another 30 tweets, another 60 tweets as the announcement was made.
#BlackTuesday out-trended Thanksgiving for a moment today. Apparently that's huge.
I wish the historical event I was following was a more positive one. I wish I'd been outside Parliament to experience it with my peers, not reading about it once removed - albeit only a few seconds removed.
But Twitter totally came through for me on this one, and I get it now. Fucking marvelous technology.
Not just the real-time connection with the event, but being able to garner all the varied comments - from SA's top newspaper editors to comedians, political commentators, assholes - the voices of reason, of hysteria - to instantly have ones own reaction tempered, inflamed, counter-balanced, validated, refuted. Great stuff.
And instantly those (South Africans) whom I follow fell into two stark categories: those who were talking #blacktuesday and those who weren't. How could anyone really have been tweeting about anything else today?
Twitter, I take it all back. You totally came through for me today.
Even if my government shamefully and horrifyingly didn't.
How great, that so many are moved to put on the black arm band in support of something as quaint as a basic right; while Americans swarm to give up their own in the name of security. And still not have security, by the way.
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