The Day Social Media Became Important

On June 1, 1980, Ted Turner flipped the switch on a 24-hour cable TV channel devoted entirely to news. He stuck out his jaw, folded his arms and declared his new venture would sign off at the end of the world, not before. Everywhere, people who knew better sniggered and wished they had offered Captain Outrageous the title for a bridge. Nobody wanted to watch the news that badly. Was there that much news? Of course not. Silly southern man. Harumph.

On January 28, 1986, CNN got its watershed moment when the Challenger shuttle exploded over Florida, killing high school teacher Christa McAuliffe, who was historically aboard. The country, including President Ronald Reagan, stopped working and tuned into nonstop coverage. The skeptics were converted.

30 years later those skeptics are reincarnated as Twitter haters. In the near future they will look back on June 13, 2009, as the day the paradigm shifted, that web users overtook news producers in making programming decisions.

These "twits" did so not with large capital investments in satellite and cable technology and broadcast centers but with the contracted and connected state of the world. CNN, content to report that an election in Iran was over and the status quo remained, then give way to pop culture drivel, chose not to report on the escalating conflict in the street as Iranian citizens bravely protested the results.

It should be noted that Fox News and MSNBC committed the same sin.

Tweets from ground zero of the violent protests in Iran would not so easily turn their back on this strife. At a microblog per second, CNN and the Iranian oppressors got theirs. When the American mainstream media turned its back, Twitter revolted. The social network, astutely realizing the gravity of the moment and, undoubtedly, an opportunity to secure its place in history, delayed planned site maintenance so that communications could continue unabated. Not convinced social networking grew up this month? The U.S. State Department disagrees.

Folks, the mainstream media lost its way some time ago. Tolerance of plagiarism, a lemming mentality and a focus on ideological demographic appeal have destroyed what once plausibly masqueraded as journalism. For now--right now--you can turn on CNN and see Anderson Cooper's concerned face as he tosses to an authentic Christiane Amanpour. You can thank Twitter users for that.

In a week, we'll be back to American Chopper interviews. When that happens, remember that there actually are important things happening in the shadows of the world, and for those who care to look, Twitter is providing a lens and some light.