This Sunday, the world received a sudden and welcome announcement: Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the most deadly attack ever committed on American soil, as well as countless other attacks on civilians in different nations around the globe, was dead. The mass murderer was killed by American Navy Seals during a raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan. He had been living in a large fortified house in a major city, and not in the caves of the Hindu Kush as many had suspected. The many consequences, details and meanings of Osama bin Laden’s death will be teased out in the media and world for a long, long time.

But as a pivotal news story, the death of Osama bin Laden provides an interesting view of how Americans—and indeed much of the world—absorb breaking news in the age of social media.

For my own part, I saw a note on a messageboard that the White House had Tweeted an upcoming announcement. This was the first real word spread to the world: a Tweet. @pfeiffer44: POTUS to address the nation tonight at 10:30 PM Eastern Time. A late night presidential address is unusual, to say the least. As the media scrambled to find details, Americans rushed to inform each other of this sudden upcoming news. We posted the information on Facebook, texted or called each other, made blog posts, reTweeted, and in other ways used social media to spread the word. Even the TV journalists, stewards of old media, could be seen checking their cell phones as they waited for facts.

According to a Mashable poll, 51% of their readers learned the news through either Facebook or Twitter. But we didn’t merely use social media to spread word of a TV announcement though. Social media is social, and we used to talk to each other about the secret announcement. At first we did not even know if the news was good or bad, and we speculated whether a new war had been declared, a giant meteor was coming to destroy earth, or even if President Obama merely wanted to crack a few more jokes at Donald Trump. Twitter use exploded in this time, essentially doubling traffic as Obama took the podium.

The details were at first hazy and full of misinformation. Twitter rumors and conflicting reports spread virally through social media, but the foggy haze gave way to a clearer picture as official outlets surrendered more details. We learned first that it was national security related, then that it was good news, and finally that the announcement would be of Osama bin Laden’s death. Through this stage of uncertainty and beyond, social media let us communicate with each other whether for good—spreading news or sharing humor to diffuse the tension—or ill—spreading misinformation and causing undue panic.

This digital intimacy—the instant sharing of thoughts, rumors, lies, and facts—is how all news will be devoured in the social media age. Even news as important and impactful as the death of the world’s greatest terrorist.