London 2005: The Changing Face of Global Communication

Yesterday's tragic events in London left me numb. Throughout the day, I watched people posting their thoughts about the bombings, their good wishes and sympathies to Londoners, their support and their stories, and I couldn't think of anything to add. I hope it would be obvious to people that I too feel terrible about the bombings and extend my sympathies to all the victims. But I couldn't think of anything significant or important that I could say about the event, because everyone else was already doing it.

However, watching the way people checked in with each other got me thinking...

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As we scan the lists of names, looking for those of family, friends, and acquaintances, we can't help but register all those strangers too, people we never knew before and might never know again. But this time, we don't know them simply as the mass of humanity who was also affected; for a brief moment, each of those strangers becomes a real human being in our eyes, someone just like us, who has family and friends who care about them too.

We have truly become a global community.