26 June 2009
Michael Jackson's sudden death has put the internet under heavy strain as millions logged on to their computers or turned to their mobile phones to search for information.
Twitter saw a large spike in users with up to 5,000 Jackson-related messages being posted per minute, which slowed the service's speed. Soon after news of his death emerged Jackson-related topics dominated Twitter's list of most popular subjects being discussed on the site. Biz Stone, co-founder of the messaging site, said: "This particular news about the passing of such a global icon is the biggest jump in tweets per second since the U.S. presidential election.”
Facebook saw a similar response, with the number of postings tripling during the hour after news of Jackson's death broke, according to a spokesman. Several Facebook pages dedicated to the King of Pop, such as Michael Jackson RIP and R.I.P. Michael Jackson (We Miss You), were started and attracted well over 100,000 members in a matter of hours.
Source: Telegraph.co.uk