Despite concerns that the mobile phone network in Washington DC would collapse under the sheer volume of people sending text and picture messages or calling friends, it appears the system held up well. At one point, it was rumoured that mobile phone communications around the inauguration route had been blocked, but the claim was later debunked by Channel 4. Popular microblogging service Twitter, which held up unbelievably well under the groaning weight of user numbers, provided some of the best and most immediate commentary on events. The invocation prayer by Rick Warren, a controversial evangelical minister from California, was met with raised eyebrows by many in the Twitterverse.

“Why was there a prayer before the inauguration of a president whose duties involve upholding a separation between church and state?” asked duzupis. “Welcome to America. Separation of Church and State is just a fantasy,” tweeted sean808080. Others took umbrage with his calls for tolerance and understanding, particularly given the pastor’s position on gay rights. “I don’t want this homophobic asshole talking about equality during the inauguration. Christ,” twittered an exasperated pvponline. The appearance of Aretha Franklin on stage to sing My Country Tis of Thee caused a gleeful spike in Twitter traffic, with many enthralled by her gravity-defying hat, and others saying that her rendition of one of the great, patriotic American anthems had reduced them to tears.

“ReRe appears to be wearing a gift-wrapped package on her head”, wrote ampalm. “I must be getting old, tears in my eyes watching/listening to the inauguration,” tweeted jeffsonstein. “I just think it’s a shame that Clinton isn’t gonna turn up and play his Saxaphone again,” lamented pvponline. While Obama’s faltering oath of office drew sympathetic noises from the Twitterverse, his speech was met with approval from Twitter users. “Inauguration was great. Obama’s speech was powerful and moving. A great day for this country,” tweeted vcresta. “Great speech. Obama certainly does shine and give the world hope,” said chronomega.

All across the internet, web users were sharing their stories of the day. On Flickr, almost 3,000 photos had been uploaded to the special Inauguration 2009 group, with countless thousands more scattered across the rest of the site. And on Facebook, members were sharing their thoughts about the event. As the inauguration started, Facebook said there were millions of users logged in online, with more than 200,000 status updates made through the Facebook tool built into CNN. More than 3,000 people were leaving comments on the Facebook CNN feed every minute at the ceremony’s peak, Facebook said. By the time Obama took his oath, CNN had served more than 13.9 million live video streams of the event through its website.

On the CNN website, there was no immediate sign of the 3D image of users’ photos the broadcaster was hoping to stitch together using Photosynth, but on Microsoft’s picture-editing site itself, dozens of photos were popping up showing key moments from the ceremony. But perhaps the most interesting cyber happening was on the official White House website itself, where, at the stroke of noon in Washington DC, the website switched to reflect that there was a new man in the Oval office. There are links to Obama’s agenda, and to a “Briefing Room”, which will play host to all of the new President’s web video addresses, as well as photo slide shows.

( www.telegraph.co.uk )

Source