Anyone who doubts the power of the social web need only take a look at the activity on Twitter last night, the micro-blogging service that has more than six million members worldwide. Mere moments after the first shots were fired, Twitter users in India, and especially in Mumbai, were providing instant eyewitness accounts of the unfolding drama. Messages, known as “tweets”, were being posted to the site at a rate of around 70 tweets every five seconds when the news of the tragedy first broke, according to some estimates. “Hospital update. Shots still being fired. Also, Metro cinema next door,” twittered Mumbaiattack.
"Mumbai terrorists are asking hotel reception for room #s of American citizens and holding them hostage on the floor", twittered Dupreee. Many Twitter users sent tweets pleading for blood donors to make their way to the JJ Hospital in Mumbai, as stocks were in danger of running low in the wake of the atrocity. Others spread the word about helplines and contact numbers for those worried about loved ones caught up in the attacks. Many more simply used the microblogging platform to let friends and family know that they were safe. A group of bloggers based in Mumbai used their Metroblog, which usually dealt with the everyday minute of life in this bustlings city, as a news wire service, bringing its readers, and the wider world, news of the incident as it unfolded.
On Wikipedia, a new page about the terror attacks was set up within minutes of the news breaking, with a team of citizen editors adding a staggering amount of detail, often in real time, to provide background information about the attacks. Someone even created a Google Map showing the location of buildings and landmarks at the centre of the incident, with links to news stories and eyewitness accounts. But perhaps the most amazing and harrowing first-hand account of the Mumbai attacks came from Vinukumar Ranganathan who grabbed his camera and headed out onto the streets of the city, taking a series of photos showing mangled cars, bloodstained roads and fleeing crowds. He has uploaded more than 112 photos to Flickr.
( www.telegraph.co.uk )
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