News of the invasion of Ukraine travels across the world in pieces beyond the mass media

PHOTOGRAPH: CHRIS MCGRATH / GETTY IMAGES

I read a number of news articles about Russia's invasion of Ukraine on the morning of February 24th. But long before the first article was opened, the news had already arrived via smartphones. Even if Russia invades Ukraine, everything is recorded on "TikTok" For example, Twitter collects and distributes numerous tweets from news media and government officials. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, "I urge all Russians who have not yet lost their conscience to go out on the streets and protest the war with Ukraine." Friends in a group chat posted a photo of their TV screen showing cable TV news about the car escaping Kyiv. Shortly thereafter, notifications from other platforms began to arrive. In this way, the home screen of the smartphone was filled with information related to Ukraine.

Visualized fragment information

As you know, most people are now exposed to the news in this way. Small pieces of information come from different locations and platforms. However, another phenomenon was occurring at the same time. People are starting to post information from completely different sources. Kevin Rosslock, editor of Meduza, a media that conveys information about Russia, posted a screenshot of Flightradar24, an app that allows you to check the flight status of an aircraft, showing how the aircraft is avoiding over Ukraine and Belarus in the war. It was introduced as "the empty blank that occurred". As a result, the number of Flightradar24 users has skyrocketed. "The average number of visitors per day is 3 million, but within a few hours it has jumped to a pace of 1 million per hour," said a Flightradar24 spokeswoman. Geoffrey Lewis, a professor at Middlebury University, also posted a screenshot of Google Maps on Twitter. At about the same time that President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation," the road from Belgorod, Russia to the Ukrainian border appears to be "congested" by Russian convoys. Even the New York Times has joined the move, posting images of security cameras recording Russian troops entering Kherson Oblast from the Crimean Peninsula.