Internet bustles, telephones buzz after US strikes

NEW YORK: The Internet lit up with patriotic fervor and nuanced debate as the

public reacted to Sunday's military strikes on Afghanistan, and telephone use,

which spiked following the Sept. 11 attacks, rose modestly.

"We saw a jump in volume across the entire of the AT&T

networks," said Dave Johnson, spokesman for network services at AT&T

Corp . "When the networks started to talk about the bombings, it went up

just a little bit, and then dropped off a bit when the president made the

address to the nation."

On the Internet, discussions took on a heated, if often crude, tone, with

messages pouring in at a rate of dozens a minute on some popular sites, such as

Yahoo.com. Many discussions focused on Osama Bin Laden, the alleged mastermind

of the Sept. 11 attacks, and whether the United States was justified in using

military force in Afghanistan.

Nuanced debate about the merits of war, however, was often overshadowed by

crude remarks, many against Muslims and Arabs, made under the relative anonymity

of online pseudonyms. "You get more nuance. You also get a lot more

ugliness," said Sreenath Sreenivasan, assistant professor at the Columbia

University Graduate School of Journalism and founder of the Online Journalism

Awards.

One chat room participant, who identified himself as a member of the US

National Guard based in Missouri, said he turned to online chat rooms to share

his vitriol for Osama Bin Laden. Another person writing in a chat room geared to

armed service members admonished other participants to "be careful what you

say here soldiers," adding that enemies "watch these too."

Discussion groups were formed for military aficionados, Muslims and

Arab-Americans, and on Yahoo, one group catered to the spouses and partners of

active-duty soldiers. Aside from discussion, the Internet also offered instant

updates and alternate perspectives on the day's events. Pakistani newspapers,

Afghan information sites, and one-person publishers, including Matt Drudge, were

relied upon by many as supplements to non-stop coverage on cable television.

"I think the audience today is much better informed than in '91"

during the Gulf War, Sreenivasan said. On that day, when hijacked jetliners

toppled New York's Twin Towers, the Internet became a key medium for

communications, as overtaxed telephone lines failed to stand up to demand.

(C) Reuters Limited 2001.