This is just a short story of how extraordinary the internet is.
At around 7:20pm tonight (May 1, 2011), I’m sitting at my desk playing Starcraft II, and a notification from the Huffington Post pops up on my iPhone. It says that Obama is to make a surprise statement at around 7:30pm.
I jump on Twitter and see a tweet from my friend that says:
Just a few minutes after I go on a mad fact-checking search through the New York Times, CNN, and other tweets, the deluge of texts from friends spreading the word starts. Within 10 minutes of the White House saying so, millions – maybe billions – of people know a piece of information.
The incredible part of this in my opinion is that this didn’t start while people were paying attention. It started on any normal Sunday evening. Now I’m just watching TV, waiting for the official announcement.