Almost a year ago Andrew Breitbart, conservative and controversial political pundit and firebrand, sent an angry tweet, went for a walk, and died of a heart attack.
Friend and colleague Jamie Forrest and I were chatting about this shortly thereafter when it occurred to us that in this age of instantaneous social sharing, many people’s last words will take the form of a tweet (or post, status update, etc.).
An idea was born: we would try to capture the last tweets of notable people. We dubbed our experiment The Tweet Hereafter.
For the past several months we’ve been quietly collecting tweets, not sure whether our project was something we really wanted to announce formally or not.
Today, however, a grim tragedy unfolded and, as is often the case now, it involved a final tweet. Oscar Pistorius, heralded Paralympic and Olympic runner, an athlete lauded for his poise, humility and courage, is charged with murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, who, only yesterday, posted a giddy anticipatory tweet about Valentine’s Day.
This afternoon Jamie and I decided it was time to let more people know about The Tweet Hereafter. If you’re interested, take a look. In many of the tweets there you’ll likely find no deep meaning. In others, however, lie fascinating, inspiring, frightening, and perhaps tragic insights.
Visit The Tweet Hereafter.
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Let me know what you think on Twitter: @mmcwatters
