Osama Bin Laden is Dead: Social Media & Our Society

Last night the world breathed a sigh of relief and a cry of victory as a long awaited announcement was made, "Osama Bin Laden is dead." The justice of that moment sent many Americans into a frenzy of celebration, a flash mob of citizens gathered outside the White House and sang "We Are the Champions", a celebration broke out in Times Square around a group of fire fighters, and cadets at West Point passionately sang our national anthem. So how were these celebrations started, how did the crowd gather outside the White House before the President ever appeared from the East Room? The answer is simple: Social Media. The first twinge of the evening hit Twitter from the account of the Presidents Chief of Staff. Not longer after that there were pings of Bin Laden in the air, and by 10:15 it was clear what the President would be speaking on despite the fact that his topic had not been released. Before the President ever reached the podium most of the world knew that Osama Bin Laden was dead, not because of the great reporting of International Media Giants, but because of tweets from Congressional staffers and White House interns. 

I found it intriguing that before the President ever said a word "Osama Bin Laden" was trending on Twitter and my news feed on Facebook was overrun with statuses about the death of Bin Laden. People on the streets discovered the news via their smartphones and told people they were walking by about the news. Our culture and society has forever changed. News and events are instantaneous. Many people were checking in on Facebook after the horrible storms in Alabama to let their loved ones and friends they were O.K. The Arabic Revolutions were started through social media and continue to grow through the avenues of Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube. Our lives have begun to revolve around these virtual venues of communication, and it's only going to continue to grow! 

So real estate agent, do you have a Facebook page, do you have a Twitter account, are you LinkedIn, are you a Tumblr, are you on blogging, do you even have a smart phone? If you don't, last night should be enough to convince you that it is time to embrace the change everyone around you has incorporated into their lives like second nature. They check their Facebook news feed like you watch the evening news, they follow trends on twitter like you read the obituaries, and they blog to the world like you write letters to editor. Maybe it's time to put a little more reach on your message and broaden your horizons to embrace the technological revolution of immediate world wide news from the most powerful tool yet: Social Media.