Twelve years is an eternity in Internet time. We didn’t have Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram in 2001. Still, when the Twin Towers fell, Americans flocked online to get information about one of the decade’s biggest news stories. At the time, Livejournal was already two years old. Xanga had just started offering photo uploads. AOL Instant Messenger was preparing to launch a service for Nokia phones.
via How the Internet broke on 9/11.