OTTAWA - Social media networks were jammed Monday with a digital procession of mourners for Jack Layton.
By midday, over 10,000 people had remarked on the death of the NDP leader on the microblogging site Twitter, according to an analysis of online statistics by digital public affairs analyst Mark Blevis
That's more tweets than were sent daily at the start of the last federal election.
"This is one of those stories that tweets up the entire nation because it's apolitical right now," Blevis said.
The majority of tweets appeared to be from people expressing their condolences or sending links to online news stories.
It's likely more people are learning about Layton's death via their Facebook feeds than by traditional media sources, Blevis said.
"People only check media outlets once and a while, but the majority of people check in with their friends so all it takes is one friend to find out the news and rebroadcast it."
Enter Martin Reis. The Toronto cycling advocate appears to have been one of the first people to hit Twitter with the news of Layton's death.
In an interview, Reis said he had his laptop open Monday morning while watching television and when he saw the anchor break in, he realized something serious had happened.
Reis said he posted the information on his Twitter account so it would get around quickly to his followers.
"(Layton) did so much for the cycling community," Reis said. "I just wanted to share it."
Celebrities like the Barenaked Ladies, actress Ellen Page, and even the Governor General used Twitter to express their condolences.
A spokeswoman for the vice-regal said David Johnston wrote his own tweets, which was sent out long before his official statement.
That governors general can grieve alongside regular Canadians is part of the beauty of social media and also the reality of death being the great equalizer, said Christopher Schneider, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of British Columbia.
"Part of the mourning process is collective -- this is why we have funerals, it is why we have wakes," he said. "But often times it ends at those two ceremonies. When we look online, the mourning can continue and it can continue across these vast spaces."
Social media was also used to quickly organize public tributes, including a noon gathering on Parliament Hill, a rally in Toronto, and a nighttime vigil being planned in Vancouver.
Layton's final letter to Canadians, written two days before his death, was posted to his Twitter account Monday. His last personal tweet had been sent on July 25 and thanked Canadians for their support as he battled the cancer that ultimately took his life.
The leader was an early fan of Twitter and encouraged a social-media-savvy team, said Ian Capstick, a former spokesman for Layton who now works as a communications consultant. Capstick said he and other New Democrats are taking a great deal of solace in the online support.
"It stands a lasting legacy and testament," Capstick said. "None of this is going away. This is the Internet. It will be there forever and it's truly a testament to how one man touched so many people."
