How 'woots' turned to 'damn' TWITTER

ULF Waschbusch seems to spend a lot of time on planes - and Twitter.

By InvestSMART · 5 Nov 2010

By InvestSMART ·
5 Nov 2010

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ULF Waschbusch seems to spend a lot of time on planes and Twitter.

After recent flights on Turkish Airlines and Emirates, he was excited to book a flight on Qantas's A380 for a short trip to Australia and New Zealand.

"Woot!" he exclaimed with excitement on October 18, when he used Twitter to tell the world of his travel plans.

Fifteen days later on November 2, Ulf was doubly excited about his trip, despite it being only five days long.

"I'm kinda looking forward to wearing a sweater again," he told Twitter, anticipating the cool weather in Australia.

"2 days til spring time in Sydney and Auckland. Woot Woot."

By midday yesterday, he was inside Singapore airport taking pictures of the A380 he was about to board, and publishing them on yfrog, an internet publishing site.

But just four hours later disappointment had struck.

"Just emergency landed back in Singapore after engine two blew up at take-off and parts ripped through wings. Damn," he tweeted.

But that didn't stop him bringing the story to the world, taking a photo out of the window of the plane.

The world's media noticed too within an hour of the Qantas scare, Ulf's Twitter account was inundated by journalists from around Australia and as far away as France.

In the space of 30 minutes, his number of official "followers" had almost doubled to 385.

Surviving a mid-air crisis and doubling your readership in a single day now that's something to woot about.

TWITTER ON THE SPOT

On my way to Australia for the first time and fi rst time on A380! 11.51am EST

Just emergency landed back in Singapore after engine two blew up at take-off and parts ripped through wings. Damn. 2.51pm EST

@ulfw

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Frequently Asked Questions about this Article…

What happened on the Qantas A380 flight described in the article?

A passenger, Ulf Waschbusch, tweeted that the A380 he was boarding had to emergency land back in Singapore after ‘engine two blew up at take-off’ and parts ripped through the wings. He posted photos from the plane and later described the scare on Twitter.

How did the passenger share details of the Qantas emergency landing on social media?

Ulf used Twitter to post a running account of his trip — from excitement about flying an A380 to tweeting that the engine had blown and the plane had emergency landed — and he uploaded photos via the image service yfrog.

How quickly did journalists and the public react to the on-board Twitter updates?

The article says media reacted within an hour: journalists from Australia and as far away as France contacted his account, and his number of followers almost doubled to 385 within 30 minutes.

What role did photo-sharing (yfrog) play in spreading the Qantas A380 story?

The passenger posted pictures of the A380 from inside Singapore airport to yfrog, giving visual evidence that helped spread the story rapidly through social media and attract media attention.

What does the article illustrate about Twitter’s role in breaking airline incidents?

The piece highlights Twitter as a real-time, on-the-spot channel for eyewitness accounts: a single passenger’s tweets and photos quickly amplified the incident and drew national and international media interest.

Why should everyday investors pay attention to social media reports like this Qantas scare?

As shown in the article, social media can rapidly amplify airline incidents and attract media coverage. Investors monitoring sentiment and news flow might spot fast-moving stories that could affect company reputation or short-term market attention.

Did the article report any injuries or detailed technical damage from the incident?

No. The article relays the passenger’s tweets about the engine blowing and parts ripping through wings and that the aircraft emergency landed, but it does not report injuries or detailed technical assessments.

Did the tweeting passenger see any direct benefit from sharing the Qantas incident on Twitter?

Yes. According to the article, Ulf’s Twitter readership jumped quickly after his posts — his followers nearly doubled within 30 minutes — and his account was inundated with journalists seeking information.