Michael Jackson Death Greatly Exaggerated Say Google - TwitterNEWS OF Wacko's DEATH GREATLY EXAGGERATED - GOOGLE - TWITTER + Timeline of events--How Michael Jackson's death shut down Twitter, brought chaos to Google... and 'fulfilled' Jeff Goldblum!
The Internet came alive like never before as people around the world logged on to follow the stunning news of Michael Jackson's death. The story created such a surge in online traffic that Google returned an 'error message' for searches of the singer's name as it assumed it was under attack. And just seconds after the story broke on the American entertainment website TMZ.com, messages or 'Tweets' about the singer on the micro-blogging site Twitter doubled, leading to a temporary shutdown of the site.
TMZ.com was the first to break the story that Michael Jackson had had a cardiac arrest, when they stole a march on traditional media outlets with the scoop that Jackson had died from a heart attack two hours before it was confirmed by the more 'reputed' sources of The LA Times and Associated Press.
Confusion reigned for several hours in newsrooms about whether Michael Jackson was in a coma or perhaps had already passed away - although some bloggers suggested the story was a hoax. The 24-hour news services provided by Sky and BBC were forced to credit TMZ for their most up-to-date information. American gossip blogger Perez Hilton wrote: '(Jackson) pulled a similar stunt when he was getting ready for his big HBO special in '95 when he collapsed at the rehearsal! 'Either he's lying or making himself sick, but we're curious to see if he's able to go on. Get your money back, ticket holders!'
How news of Jackson's death spread around the Internet: Timeline of events... Rumours abounded as major news channels were reluctant to run the story with TMZ.com as the only source. Despite breaking stories such as Mel Gibson's anti-Semitic rant during a drunk driving arrest, the website is viewed by many as salacious and lacking credibility. CNN waited for the coroner's confirmation before it stated Michael Jackson was dead, despite being owned by Time Warner, the same company as TMZ.
Harvey Levin, managing director of TMZ said: 'No matter what they say, people know we broke the story. That's how competitors handle it. There's no issue about our credibility. 'We were getting calls from everyone under the sun, established news operations, asking, "Are you sure?" That's such an odd question. We would not have published it if it were not true.'
The number of Jackson tracks being listened to on the internet radio Last.FM leapt to his death. Internet users however had no such qualms with the news source and turned to Twitter to spread the story.
By 10.30pm, Jackson-based Twitter traffic had risen to 12.26 per cent and peaked at 11.30pm with 22.61 per cent of all messages dedicated to the star. Nine of the ten most popular topics on Twitter were dedicated to the tragic king of pop by this time.
Tweet counter/founder Biz Stone said: 'We saw an instant doubling of tweets per second the moment the story broke. 'It is the biggest jump in tweets per second since the U.S. presidential election.' The Mail Online saw traffic double between 10pm and 12pm. Meanwhile, computers running Google's news section interpreted the fusillade of 'Michael Jackson' requests as an automated attack...Read More AT http://www.visualguidanceltd.blogspot.com
~ nichopoulooza
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