If you have a phone, you can keep up to date with the latest from NN via Facebook and Twitter.
NEWPORT, R.I. – For a brief spell on Saturday night, what police described as a small underground explosion knocked out power to much of the city’s Historic Hill neighborhood. The outage, which took place shortly after 6 p.m. was over by roughly 7:26 p.m. and was more of an inconvenience than anything else.
Residences that were affected were isolated to an area above Spring Street and between Touro Street and Memorial Boulevard. Several businesses along upper Thames also reported a brief power surge which caused them to have to reset their cash registers and television sets, but overall business went on as normal for the downtown area.
Why is this important? Well, if you’re like many of our readers, you keep up with us over Facebook and Twitter. And, if you have a smart phone like a Blackberry, Droid, or iPhone, you would have known about the blackout, what areas were affected, and also, which areas weren’t – proving that even when in the dark, the flow of information doesn’t need to stop.
Reporting here on the blackout on a Saturday evening when most people aren’t at their computers, didn’t seem to be the best venue for disseminating information – especially considering those that were most in need of that news (those residents without power) wouldn’t be able to access it. Providing real-time information that could be readily accessible by phone and in real-time over micro-blogging formats such as Twitter and Facebook, however, proved rather effective.
Both Facebook and Twitter serve to expand our coverage and the overall NN experience. As we head into the high season, both will become increasingly important venues for our news gathering and reporting operation.
So, if you haven’t already, be sure to follow us on Twitter or find us on Facebook. It’s beyond novelty for us, and hopefully you’ll find it useful even in those times when the power goes out.
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Newport, RI
