It is a day of remembrance and perhaps mourning for the United States as the calendar turns to 10 year anniversary of September 11, 2001. The effects of that cataclysmic day are still being felt around the globe, but instead of focusing on the negative repercussions of the attack, instead, we’d like to turn your attention to the goodwill and the level of reverence that’s currently permeating throughout the Internet, especially on Twitter. Before that however, it is important to remind yourself of the significance of the date, and while that may sound like a painful experience, there is a level of catharsis as well.
Point and center with the meaningful content is the New York Times. Today’s issue accepted the challenge of capturing the scope and the connection the city had to the World Trade Center, and they did a masterful job doing so with an amazing 76-image slideshow that captures the life and death of the Twin Towers, and however painful that idea may sound, it’s well worth a look. A few tears is fair trade for such amazing photojournalism. In fact, the incredible image this article is being led with comes courtesy of the NYT’s slideshow.
While there’s a good chance you might experience a level of inundation with today’s 9/11 content, it’s important to at least acknowledge those who perished either in the collapse or the rescue efforts. Today is also the first full day of the NFL’s regular season, and so, there will be a great deal of attention paid to the anniversary with both recollections of the day and by athletes wearing apparel the pays respect to the first responders, like so:
Image courtesy of Cincy Jungle
Much like the Times, the New York Post also features a slideshow that pays respect to the twin towers, and again, because of the emotion attached, it may be a hard trip to take, but it is worth your time.
Another area where people are paying their respects, is, of course, the social media world. While Facebook’s many members are doing their part–largely with avatar changes to commemorate the anniversary–Twitter is very much engaged in the significance of the date. There are currently two Twitter trends dedicated to today’s date, one using the #GodBlessAmerica hashtag, the other using RIP 9. Both of these trends are quite active, with new posts arriving in droves. An example of the sentiment being shared:
Heart goes out to all the people that lost there life on 9-11 and all the families that lost a loved one. RIP 9 / 11
╱╭━━╮╱╱╱╱┏┓╱┏┓╱ ╱┃╭╮┃╱╱╱┏╯┃┏╯┃╱ ╱┃╰╯┃┏━┓┗┓┃┗┓┃╱ ╱╰━┓┃┗━┛╱┃┃╱┃┃╱ ╱┏━╯┃╱╱╱╱┃┃╱┃┃╱ ╱┗━━╯╱╱╱╱┗┛╱┗┛╱ RIP 9/11 Innocent Victims ♥♥
As you can clearly see, the events of 9/11 touched many people, regardless of creed, social achievement or color.
With that in mind, it’s important to take a moment and pay respects to those who sacrificed their lives to protect ours, and the Internet, especially social media and the New York City publications are doing a fantastic job of doing so.