For only the second time in the 21st century a new pope had to be elected.
And believe it or not, while preserving the storied traditions that go along with electing a new pope, the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church were ordered to give up their cell phones due to information being leaked via NEW MEDIA.
Of course the possibility of information being leaked regarding the vote that determined the new pope via new media was of great concern. Due to precuations set in place before the process began, the traditions were preserved and the new pope was announced by a cloud of white smoke. This is a tradition that has been in place since 1914.
However, at the same time that the white smoke was seen by those actually in attendance, millions of others saw the smoke via live TV, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and individuals mobile devices. Twitter reported that there were more than 7 million tweets on Wednesday regarding the new papacy, with more than 130,000 tweets per minute once the announcement was made.
I mean… There was even a “smoke cam” that captured the white smoke live… You might be wondering what more you could ask for?
Well The Vatican’s new media efforts also include a pope app, and the pope’s twitter was reactivated.
Jorge Bergoglio, now known as Pope Francis, has also had a Facebook page since 2008.
All of these actions are a representation of how new media has become so prominent in this day and age. If we look back to previous elections new media has never been so prominent. The picture below is a perfect representation of how times have changed and New Media continues to make an overwhelming presence in our every day lives.
