Minneapolis bridge collapse: online reaction
Steve Safran August 1st, 2007
Various items online as bloggers and the media react to the collapse of the I-35W bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis:
- At Metroblogging Minneapolis, Erica writes that she learned of the collapse via Twitter
- A Livejournal user has created okayinmpls for friends to post that they are OK
- Star Tribune invites witnesses to share their stories
- WCCO has slideshow of early pictures
- Several bloggers report cellphone service is either out or spotty in Minneapolis area, so many are posting that they are OK and are asking friends to do the same.
- Lots of links and play-by-play in MNSpeak.com comments
- Before and after photos showing up on Flickr
6 Comments Add your own
1. Michael Gay | August 1st, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Another great website for local bloggers is mnspeak.com. They have over 100 comments already from locals.
As many of you know, I live in Minneapolis. I was out with friends when we heard about this on the TV, and everyone’s attention went to the many TVs in the restaurant.
These are the kind of events where local TV shines. Twitter cant show these kinds of pictures.
Cell phones did die pretty quickly. We could call out, but no one could call into the metro. TXT messaging did work though.
2. tdc | August 1st, 2007 at 7:15 pm
yes, but it’s “where local TV shines” that’s the problem in the age of the internets… 60 mile radius only.
it’s now on yahoo’s homepage and nearly every other major portal.
btw- nice whitespace on wisn’s new pages too, michael.
3. Michael Gay | August 1st, 2007 at 7:45 pm
Thanks tdc. It’s not easy to make a TV website feel clean. It’s a battle.
That said, I understand the importance of images. Personally, I would use a website with tons of pictures over a website with just text. I’m not always a fan of video, but I always want to see what I’m reading about. TV sites are getting much better about providing slideshows, not just repurposed videos.
Every news site in Minneapolis has slideshows now of the bridge. To me, the newspapers have better slideshows though, since the picture quality is higher. Just my opinion though.
4. Dave | August 1st, 2007 at 8:27 pm
Facebook is suprisingly quiet on the Minneapolis / St Paul network page… Very few posts.
5. liberalamreican | August 3rd, 2007 at 8:13 am
For ma locals opinion check out the blog, The Strage Death of Liberal America, “The Minneapolis Bridge Collapse: One Bridge Too Far.”
6. David Erickson | August 6th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
I’ve written a fairly comprehensive account on the role of citizen journalists in covering the bridge collapse. Click on my name for the page.
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