Social media beats traditional media - again

Earthquakes do not happen very often in Sweden. In fact, they almost never happen. The one we experienced this morning was the biggest in a hundred years. So, earthquake is not the first thing that comes to your mind if you live in Sweden and your house starts shaking and it feels like it is going to fall apart. Bomb? Someone drove into the building with a bulldozer?

To find out what it was all about, it is natural to seek for information.

I talked to neighbours.

They also wondered what it was about. We all assumed that it must had been an earthquake, but none of us were sure.

I turned the radio on. 

Nothing. 

I turned the TV on. 

Nothing.

I visited a number of online news sites.

Nothing.

We kept the radion and TV on.

I searched Twitter for "earthquake".

I found others reporting about an earthquake in the south of Sweden and Denmark. I found links to relevant information at earthquakes USGS which confirmed my suspicions.

It took over 30 minutes until the first news about the earthquake appeared on a news site. They as well as TV and radio did not have any information. By the time they woke up, I had already been able to confirm my suspicions thanks to Twitter. I had talked to other persons nearby and read what others had reported on Twitter. I had found facts. I didn't need their information.