Reliving Titanic 100 Years Later in Real-Time

Earlier today, I watched James Cameron’s Titanic in 3D at the Potomac Yards Regal Cinema in Alexandria Va. When I was presented my ticket, it came in a clever little boarding pass which I must confess was an excellent branding strategy.

As I had hoped, the lights dimmed, the first scene flickered to life and Cameron’s beautifully artistic masterpiece once again transported me back to the astonishment and hallowed awe of this defining moment in history. The last time I had the opportunity to watch Titanic was 15 years ago during its original cinematic 2D debut in 1997 at the Westbrook Cinema 4 Regal movie theater in my hometown of Brookhaven, Ms.

I chose to watch the movie on this date in particular because it honors the 100th anniversary of the ship’s sinking on April 14, 1912. Tomorrow I’ll also be attending the Titanic: 100 Year Obsession exhibit at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C.

But tonight I’m experiencing the tragedy in real-time.

According to various sources, there will be at least four twitter accounts tweeting the events that led to the Titanic’s haunting journey to the depths of the Atlantic.

@HistoryChannel – Follow the voyage and disaster in real time from now until April 15.

@TitanicRealTime – Experience Titanic's epic journey with minute-by-minute tweets as if from on board the ship itself. Created by @TheHistoryPress See our App http://bit.ly/yNhKMo

@titanic_live – To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, this account will live tweet events as they unfolded in April 1912.

Of course, I give the greatest kudos to the Nova Scotia Museum which is also tweeting the event tonight. Why? Because the museum pioneered the idea last year for the 99th anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking. Even more fascinating is that the museum’s tweets are that of the wireless operators from the ship herself as well as the responses from others in nearby contact.

This makes tonight’s observance even more hauntingly reminiscent given the realization of Twitter as the modern day relative of the telegraphs used that night. Twitter in it's own right has helped to play a critical role in defining moments of history such as the Arab Spring. From a PR perspective, it’s really quite brilliant and will be extraordinary to watch.

You can follow the museum’s accounts tonight at @ns_museum or by following hashtag #TitanicMMA.

If you want to really get into the action and watch all four accounts simultaneously, l suggest using TweetDeck’s free real-time monitoring dashboard service.