Social media roadblocks need to be removed

Six people were killed and 15 injured last Tuesday night when a Metro-North train slammed into an SUV crossing the tracks in Valhalla, N.Y., an otherwise sleepy hamlet about 30 miles north of New York City.

The crash resulted in a massive explosion and fire that left the first car of the train and the automobile twisted and charred. It was a horrific scene and won’t be easily forgotten by the hundreds of commuters unfortunate enough to have been on that train.

I was on the train immediately behind the one involved in the accident. About two miles away from Valhalla, we came to an abrupt halt. After a few minutes, the conductor announced we were stopped because of “police activity” ahead.

“You’ll probably find out what that activity is before we do,” the conductor added mysteriously. “If you find out what’s going on, please let one of us know.”

Within seconds, my fellow passengers were reaching for their computers, tablets and smartphones. Some were calling their friends and relatives to let them know they would be late.

Others, like me, were on Twitter.

TRANSFORMATIVE POWER

The conductor was right. Moments after the crash, bystanders in Valhalla had begun posting live accounts of what had happened, complete with photographs of the fiery scene. Long before serious news organizations had dispatched their reporters and helicopters to the railroad crossing, the accident was being “reported” and disseminated via social media.

I have spent the last several years encouraging InvestmentNews reporters and editors to engage with our readers on social media sites such as Twitter and LinkedIn, and I have been a big proponent of our stories’ being distributed through those channels. But I realized Tuesday night that I’ve still underestimated the transformative power of social media.

There will come a day in the not-too-distant future when the vast majority of the news we consume is delivered through social media.

Even among financial advisers — many of which face regulatory constraints in their ability to communicate with clients or potential clients through social media — sites like Twitter and LinkedIn are becoming more relevant to their practices. We see this in the slow but steady increase in traffic on our website through social media.

Regulators need to get out of the way on this one.