Social Media was Huge Part of the Story in Boston
One person on Twitter said that watching the police trying to capture Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was like watching the OJ Simpson chase back in 1994. The difference was, the person watched the OJ chase on TV and the Tsarnaev capture on Twitter.
Many watched the events unfold on TV while also being logged onto to Social Media at the same time.
Mnay of those on Twitter were also using an app to listen to the police scanners in the Boston area.
KIRO News Director Bob Jordan was over 3,000 miles away in Seattle and yet he was tweeting some of what he heard on the Boston Police scanner:
As word spread that Tsarnaev had been spotted, more than 250,000 people were simultaneously tuned to a Ustream with video of a police scanner tuned to the Boston Police channels.
Reporters and Anchors were also Tweeting the news along with covering the story the "old way" on TV.
Stations would see some resident that would Tweet something or post some video and it was a rush to be the first to find that person, call them and get them on the air.
One woman that had a bullet go through her house in Friday morning's shootout. She posted a picture of the bullet hole on Twitter and then spent the rest of the day answering phone calls from the media and appearing on their air.
Many complain that you can't trust social media and point out that it's not always accurate. Well, this week proved the same with the Mainstream Media as well.
Wrong information went out both over Twitter and over the networks.
No matter which media you are using, it still seems like getting it first is still much more important than getting it right.