How A Bunch Of People With Twitter Accounts Reacted To The Earthquake
Since everything that happens must now microblogged within seconds of—if not actually during—its occurence, let's take a look at how The Great East Coast Shakefest of 2011 was covered on Twitter.
Some chose to tie the news to current events:
I think Chris Christie just jumped into the raceless than a minute ago via TweetDeck 
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Alex Pareene
pareene
Apparently, now that Nick Ashford is dead, the earth is no longer solid as a rock.less than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet Reply
Erik Tanouye
toyns
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WILL AND JADA ALLEGEDLY BREAK UP ACCORDING TO OK MAGAZINE.less than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet Reply
David Cho
davidcho
Some saw the opportunity for pop culture/new media/techonology references:
Pitchfork gives this earthquake a 5.8.less than a minute ago via TweetDeck Favorite Retweet Reply
grayson currin
currincy
OH: "Well, it's official: Silicon Valley's got nothing on New York City now."less than a minute ago via Twitter for iPhone Favorite Retweet Reply
Matt Langer
mattlanger
i hope the world doesn't end before I use all these groupons #nycearthquakeless than a minute ago via TweetDeck Favorite Retweet Reply
Brokelyn
Brokelyn
There was culinary humor:
New York earthquakes are better because of our thinner crust.less than a minute ago via Twitter for Mac Favorite Retweet Reply
Joel Johnson
joeljohnson
Naturally, the West Coast couldn't wait to tell us how jaded and blase they are about geological disturbances:
From the endlessly shaky West Coast to hyperventilating Easterners: stop whining about #quake. It's like discovering sex for the 1st time.less than a minute ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® Favorite Retweet Reply
PhilBronstein
PhilBronstein
Hey Angeleno friends, I just heard that some New Yorkers evacuated their buildings! hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaless than a minute ago via Brizzly Favorite Retweet Reply
ericspiegelman
ericspiegelman
And, perhaps inevitably, some got meta about Twitter:
That was just like the old days, when the '49ers immediately wrote down their funniest earthquake quips and gave them to carrier pigeons.less than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet Reply
Ross Luippold
rossluippold
And that's how it happened. I'm a little disappointed in all of you. Except Pareene. Chris Christie fat jokes are gold, I tell ya. Gold!
As for the rest? Twitter is now 95% hipster jokes by volume, so we shouldn't be surprised by how that played out.
I don't know what's worse: that I was in New Jersey and didn't feel the earthquake, or that I missed the initial snarkfest.
@keisertroll Easy. The worst is that you were in New Jersey, period.
@deepomega Hey!
@deepomega I left myself wide open for that one.
Thank Christ Tyler Coates was there for me on Tumblr. That man is a rock.
@saythatscool I still need to hear what Ja Rule thinks about all this.
@cherrispryte Uh-Ohhh
The jokes are bad, but the jadedness is worse. A 5.9 earthquake is definitely an event and people are going to mention where they were, what they felt, etc. I've been in much larger earthquakes and my first reaction was still, "holy shit! that was weird!"
It was awesome, and made me miss California just a teeny bit, for the 2 seconds it lasted.
Wait, wait, I don't get it…, oh nevermind, Chris Christie is overweight…, brilliant!
@JoshUng again with the bodysnarking.
Wow, women really aren't funny!
"#nycearthquake"? I realize that New York is the center of the universe and everything, but the "NYC earthquake" happened like 5 states away.
You guys missed @AGentleBrees's tweet (he's in Brooklyn): http://twitter.com/#!/AGentleBrees/status/106062896789852160
No
I know, I can't believed we evacuated our buildings when they started vibrating and shaking; without precedent.
@HiredGoons THIS.
Wow, I leave Birmingham: riots. I leave Northern Virginia: earthquake. I wonder what will happen to Florida when I leave here?
@Jon Custer: Ummm …
I've heard Paul Krugman said it should have been bigger, S&P downgraded it to 5.2, All mohel fees will be refunded & a few other cute ones. But nothing tops my brother's actual experience.
He lives in Virginia and he was getting a colon exam when the quake happened.