conch.u.tech: September 15, 2001

Web proves essential after disaster

Message boards and chat rooms correct errors

By Paul Waterhouse conchtec@hotmail.com Keynoter Columnist

The ghastly events of this week gave the technological world some challenges. Media Web sites ground to a halt quickly after Tuesday’s terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, as America and the world began seeking news, any news, beyond what was being shown live on TV screens. But at the same time, the Internet was up to the task. Almost instantly, online communities from Usenet to mailing lists became media channels, mirroring details and distributing them to frustrated computer users watching blank screens and timeouts. At the pinnacle of technological successes, cellular telephones, often derided in this column, literally saved lives. People buried under mountains of rubble in Lower Manhattan were able to communicate with rescuers. Telephone calls from victims on the hijacked airliners were able to broadcast words of love, horror and heroic resolve. Perhaps the biggest impact of the Internet age was the spontaneous emergence of people-to-people networks. In one community, I watched people reach out to people across all five continents in the space of an hour. An eerily efficient network of online posters emerged to locate online friends known to be in New York. Real-time eyewitness reports began arriving from New York and Washington. By mid-afternoon, the focus of the online traffic was shifting to discussion forums and chat servers. Many hosts — folks who manage conversations online — had to scramble to catch up. It seemed like even the most obscure places to post messages that address subjects from science to child care went through the same cycles of shock, followed by horror, followed by disbelief, with all the emotions in between. And a huge and sudden increase in traffic. In the first few hours, so-called flame wars seemed very rare. The dominating theme was mutual support and consolation. With emotions running so high, this was bound to change — and it did. Along with the usual nasty dreck came the inevitable conspiracy theories. You can go online and find your own — there’s no room (or patience) to put specific examples here. Physically, the Internet lived up to its promises. Most of the communication problems revolved around Web servers rather than the network itself, which showed spikes in capacity use but few problems with the data pipelines. The World Trade Center was home to several telephone exchanges and a number of servers and other machines where data comes into the network. Many connections running through these points rerouted themselves through backup digital pathways. Many directly affected by the events, like businesses located in the World Trade Center, quickly responded to queries online and initiated actions like contacting employees with postings on their corporate Web sites. In effect, the Internet was the broadcast medium for immediate analysis, action and communication. Television carried the raw feed and the Internet filled in the gaps at the personal level, even so far as to squelch some rumors and unconfirmed reports. At one point, a report on TV about events on the Washington Mall were refuted by an online poster close to the scene before the newscaster could say “nope, that’s wrong.” The Internet was the tool that it’s supposed to be: A digital version of the flashlight you keep next to your fuse box in case the lights go out. In the end, though, it was possible to overload. With television’s constant coverage in one ear and so much to keep up with online, those seeking hard news could easily get caught like a rabbit in the headlights. Still, despite the information overload, on Tuesday the Internet and telecommunications did exactly what pundits, industry moguls and its designers said it would. It connected people — with other people and their own feelings and reactions. It became the digital nervous system of a country — and a world.

-- Anonymous, September 15, 2001