Spoiler alert: It doesn’t matter how many times you tweet or retweet, the Titanic is going down. Again.
This week, @TitanicRealTime continues its inevitable journey to the bottom of the Atlantic. Last year, the History Press launched a Twitter feed to “livetweet” the journey of the doomed ocean liner 100 years after it sank on its 1912 maiden voyage. (You know, like in that James Cameron movie.) With 71,000 followers still tuning in, the publishing company has decided to sink the ship again this year.
For history dorks like me, it’s a welcomed return. Nothing breaks up a dull afternoon at work like a tweet about the night watchmen looking for icebergs (and thinking, “You’re not looking hard enough!”).
But how many people will really pay attention to this Twitter feed when we already know the ending? Not only that, it was livetweeted a year ago. Actually, a lot of people: It’s sort of like watching Titanic over and over and over again, which everyone in the world did in 1997. (I’ll admit I dragged my girlfriend to see it last spring, but that was mostly because I wanted to see a huge boat sink in 3-D).
Maybe the folks behind @TitanicRealTime should mix it up this year. Maybe the boat doesn’t hit an iceberg. Maybe they create an alternative history where nothing bad ever happens to the Titanic until its retired in the 1960s and becomes the world’s largest Long John Silver’s franchise docked in New York Harbor? How about a cross promotion with @WalkingDead_AMC where the boat sinks and then reemerges as a Zombie Titanic and Rick Grimes has to fight walkers at sea? It wouldn’t be the first time the ship has risen from its icy grave.
When you think about it, the possibilities really are endless. Or maybe they just roll with what they’ve got, tracking each moment until the boat’s tragic end on April 15, banking on the fact that most of us won’t take the time to click “unfollow.”
Photo via RiseTheTitanic1980/YouTube