Today in TechMan unwittingly breaks news of Bin Laden raid on Twitter
Microblogging service Twitter is already a go-to source for the latest news from around the world. If there's big news to be known, you can bet there are thousands, even millions of Twitter users talking about it. Last night's news that a U.S. Navy Seals team had finally found and dealt with terrorist leader Osama bin Laden was no different. But what was discovered shortly after made Twitter an even bigger focal point: The raid that brought the terrorist's life to an end was unknowingly tweeted as it happened.
An IT consultant named Sohaib Athar living in Abbotabad, Pakistan documented a late-night military operation over the weekend involving two helicopters hovering over the city. As U.S. Navy Seals forces were on the ground, carrying out the mission to bring Bin Laden down, Athar lightheartedly complained that they are keeping him up. Large blasts were then heard, prompting additional concern. "A huge window shaking bang here in Abbottabad Cantt. I hope its not the start of something nasty," Athar tweeted.
At the time, of course, nobody had any idea what significance, if any, Athar's tweets carried. As the news of Bin Laden's death became public last night, Athar's Twitter account once again sprang to life, documenting the media explosion surrounding him. Reporters and journalists flooding his email and phone lines, and even making trips to his residence, were all chronicled in real time. His last tweet of the night? "Bin Laden is dead. I didn't kill him. Please let me sleep now."
[Via: Tech Crunch EU]
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