The death of Michael Jackson nearly stalled the world wide web.
Unlike anything seen in recent memory, entertainment and social networking websites experienced near crashes and exploding servers as a result of millions of hits that congested web traffic to an unprecedented extent.
The mobile web in particular was tested like never before and came through shining on the other side.
Even before Michael Jackson’s death was confirmed, celebrities took to Twitter to comment on a day of celebrity death (first Farrah Fawcett, then Michael Jackson). Throughout the evening, other celebrities tweeted to similarly express their reactions to the King of Pop’s death at the age of 50.
Several pranksters then released false stories on Twitter about Harrison Ford and Jeff Goldblum also dying today in freak accidents. None were true. But all caused such a flurry of mobile web searches that the internet as a whole had to fire on all cylinders to keep up.
A look at Google Trends tells the whole story.
For mobile marketers and mobile content providers, however, Thursday proved a test for the mobile industry that it passed with flying colors. From making sense of the madness to handling the wild ride of rumors and reports with poise and consistency, the mobile web added some substance to its reputation built mainly on style until now.
Last night the world reached out through the mobile web. And the mobile web was right there to reach back.
