Bob CollinsJanis Krums changed the world of information and news 10 years ago Tuesday.
Maybe Twitter would have eventually become an accepted source of news and information if he hadn’t been on a ferry on the Hudson River, trying to beat traffic, when he was the first one to tell the world an airliner had landed in it.
But he gave it a swift kick into orbit (there’s also an argument to be made that the Mumbai rail station attacks were the pivot point, but the story never caught on in the U.S. primarily because it was being told on Twitter).
He snapped this picture and tweeted it. Sadly, for all its value to history, the tweet with the picture is no longer available. Twitter isn’t much for history.
Here's the photo from the Miracle on the Hudson tweet. It doesn't appear in the old tweet anymore. Twitpic shutdown couple of years ago. #MiracleOnTheHudson pic.twitter.com/tlbNcqquKN
— Janis Krums (@jkrums) January 15, 2019
If it happened today, Twitter would be flooded with images. But in 2009, he noted today, he was the only one.
10 Year Anniversary of the Miracle on the Hudson! It's been fascinating to see where tech and social media has gone since that day. Today I would have been one of many taking and sharing this photo. Back then I was the only one to do so! https://t.co/Wiu7s4cYwg
— Janis Krums (@jkrums) January 15, 2019
Krums had 170 followers on Twitter at the time, and yet the image raced around the world in minutes.
10 years ago today: 'Miracle on the Hudson' flight goes down into the water off NYC's west side.
On a ferry, a man with 170 followers posted a photo of the scene to Twitter, still in its early days.
Here's how he later recounted it to @carlquintanilla.pic.twitter.com/nvMbUtHcf2
— Steve Kopack (@SteveKopack) January 15, 2019
He mostly favors Instagram for photos now.
