Not to forget that 80% of the people receive these kinds of news on Twitter or Facebook. I think that just lessens the shock and "OMG Seriously?!" factor, because everyone is hashtagging it. And it's always #PrayFor[...] or just the name of the town where something happened. I remember the days when we heard about it on the TV at school or through word of mouth by the teachers. Even though Myspace hadn't been officially set up yet, I heard about 9/11 from a teacher. The principal made the announcement, none of us knew about it. If we knew anything in advance (if that makes sense) it would be within our community.

I agree with Dez, and it is that cursed time of the year, so... Something was bound to happen.