9/11: Never Forget

Wednesday marked the 12^th anniversary of the day the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked by terrorists on that infamous morning of September 11, 2001. I remember that day like it was yesterday. I was a high school freshman and had just got to school and was making my way to my first class of the day when all of a sudden there was a big commotion in the school cafeteria. I went downstairs to look at one of the TVs there when I saw the unthinkable. A plane has crashed into both towers within a 10-minute span and then seeing them collapse like a condemned building at a demolition. I was at a loss for words. In my mind I was like, “WTF is going on?” “Is this really happening?” “How does one process this tragedy?”

I often wondered how the media would have covered the incident if Twitter and other social media platforms were available. I honestly believed that the magnitude of the attack would have broke Twitter within one hour of it happening. There would be so many pictures of the chaos on Instagram. PR agencies that were used by the City of New York would struggle with trying to put out information that is beneficial to the public but also doesn’t offend the families who lost loved ones. Twitter would have been one of the easiest ways people could have followed the news in real-time without having to look for a TV. Social media have changed the way the media community reports, deciphers and transmits news to millions of people but it should be heavily relied on as a credible source. The misreporting following the Boston Massacre is a prime example.