Someone is doing minute-by-minute 'live coverage' of 9/11 attacks exactly 25 years after disaster unfolded
As is the state of the world today, there are billions of wild social media profiles out there, but @25YearsAgoLive on X might just nab the crown.
Boasting more than 607,000 followers, its sole owner Manny Marotta will be running a minute-by-minute rehash of live 9/11 reports 'from a basement apartment in Pittsburgh, fuelled only by coffee' — aiming to give younger generations an authentic taste of what went down in New York City on 11 September, 2001.
The history books tell us that the 9/11 attacks resulted in close to 3,000 deaths, and even now, a quarter of a century later, the unimaginable devastation lives in the subconscious of all those who were old enough to understand it.
Ahead of this odd re-documentation happening on X, Marotta has provided several explanations as to why he's embarking on it.
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"There will be an average of two posts a minute between 8:46 and 10:30 [EDT]," he wrote.
"I worked very hard to learn the exact minute and if possible, the precise second that events occurred on 9/11, and I will post at those exact moments. It will be a completely real-time retelling of the day.
"I had the option to [show sensitive content] and I decided against it. Graphic photos and video exist, but it would be disrespectful to the victims to show it. You're welcome to look it up for yourself.
"I watched 240 hours of video footage, from news reporting to on-the-ground stringers to eyewitness testimony to academic documents, with the intent to form the most accurate-possible timeline of the event," he continued.
"I also had people professionally associated with and familiar with the event provide their own research, which was helpful. I did my very best to corroborate stories for accuracy and gather every possible detail of the day, and I hope that my work was adequate."
Asked whether he's essentially making 'loads of money' out of a tragedy, the historical re-teller answered 'probably not' as he's apparently not applied for X's latest creator monetisation program.
"I am doing this as a passion project and because I love history and have been live-posting history for eight years - long before I was ever paid to do so," he noted.
"If I do end up being monetised for this day, I've had ethical qualms. Earlier this year I decided to donate all the money I made off my posts on September 11, 2026. This was a tragic event and funds deserve to go to the victims of the tragedy and remembrance of it."
For Generation Z (babies born in the early 2000s), 9/11 isn't a living memory, so radical exercises like this are allowing them to comprehend what older generations witnessed as it occurred in real time.
Topics: History, Terrorism, Social Media
Dan Seddon