The social media platform Twitter never really appealed to me until I learned more about it in class the other day. I always thought it accumulated unnecessary updates every second and the limited number of characters was so restricting. But getting to know more about twitter has made me realise that this media platform is a valuable resource for print and online journalists.

Image of Osama bin Laden by Anxo Resua

It is simply ironic that Osama bin Laden’s decision to avoid having communication tools like the telephone and Internet in his villa hideout were one of the clues that lead US officials to his doorstep. The very same technology he dismissed, assisted Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officials in eventually tracking him down.

The news of Osama Bin Laden's death broke out to millions on Sunday 1^st May at 11:45 ET with the help of twitter, facebook  and youtube, where most people found out through the social networking sites than on actual tv and radio.

EWN alerted me on Monday to the demise of Bin Laden and the first messgae I read was in fact the second message that they had sent out namely that he had been buried at sea.
My mind immediately ran into conspiracy mode returning only after I had read the first message and watched the news.

What intrigues me though is the reluctance of the US to publish a picture or some more details around the mission. The latter is a more understandable than the former.

That we may find a picture of Bin Laden with bullet wounds in his head disturbing is a valid comment but then we have seen gruesome pictures as a reuslt of the terrorism that his group perpetrated.
So is a picture of Bin Laden really that disturbing? I still get shivers whenever I see the burning world towers and my heart turns to sadness when the date is mentioned so come on US it is time that the world sees the result of leading a life of terror.
Publish the picture, in fact publish edited highlights of the attack on the compound. It would make a welcome change to seeing towers collapsing.