I'm officially coining a term: Social Device.

In practicing for our Digital Trends and Best Practices earlier this week, our CMO Alex Lirtsman accidentally spewed out a freudian slip, trying to say "mobile device" in his dry run for the Social Media presentation. I had to stop him in his tracks when he accidentally called it a "Social Device." He couldn't have been anywhere more accurate with his twist of tongue.

With the very recent (ongoing as I author this post) shooting incident in Orlando, FL, I know for a fact that we live in a day and age where we are all connected as one hive mind. From an earlier Wall St. Journal article I read today regarding texting and cell phones, courteously tweeted by our CEO Bobby Jones, gen Y and generation i are obviously living on the horizon of a new day and age.

Lets start with a recap of my day:

11:45 PM - Bobby and I begin walking to lunch. On our way, ambulances, police cruisers, and fire trucks blaze past us in a frenzy of blue and red flashing lights. We wonder to ourselves exactly what the hell that was about.

11:50 PM - The sky opens wide and sounds of helicopters pour out. All we can do is hear the churning hum as we sit down outside to order lunch. Bobby gets a tweet that there was rumor of a shooting downtown. In the midst of the Fort Hood shooting yesterday, the timing is ridiculous. We casually discuss the safety of our city (or lackthereof) and how things could be worse compared to car bombings over in the middle east.

12:19 PM - My girlfriend calls me, frantic, explaining that right outside of our apartment are piles and piles of police vehicles and ambulances. All traffic is blocked off and she is essentially on lockdown. We then find via Twitter that the shootings were allegedly at the Sheraton, right across the street from our home. My girlfriend begins sending me photos and videos from her iPhone, right from our windows and balcony. Once I receive these, I begin tweeting them out to the world via twitpic.

12:30 - 12:45 PM - We casually hear people around us in the restaurant begin receiving phone calls from their family and friends about the shooting. The waitress finally catches wind and casually mentions it as well. Bobby and I hear word of the description of the shooter, and begin eyeballing everyone walking down the street in blue shirts and blue jeans. We hear a bang from someone emptying a nearby truck, or a car backfiring. We nearly piss our pants. We find out that the shooting occurred at an office building right next to the Sheraton.

1:00 PM - We head back to the office and begin noticing a Twitter frenzy. From the eye witness photos I've uploaded, now @CFNews13 is thanking me, posting pics on their site, and various news outlets begin retweeting me and following me, including the  The Today Show. CNN begins reporting on the story. I've included #CNN in my tweets, and my ego would like to think I'm partially responsible for helping leak this.

Every tweet meticulously includes #orlando, #orlandoshootings, #cnn, and @cfnews13. "Orlando" becomes the biggest trending topic on Twitter.

1:35 PM - First phone call comes from my father. He saw my apartment building on live television. He wants to know if we're okay. I explain to him the situation and assure him we're good. Throughout the next hour, I keep tweeting and retweeting out more live updates, photos, and video. People retweet these as well. This is about an hour after the first hint of news breaks the scene.

2:00 - 2:30 PM - My mother calls me back on my Social Device, letting me know she got my message, and asks that I keep her updated as well. She didn't even know of the story until I left her a voice mail.  News posts leak the suspect ID, car make and model, and eventually say they find the abandoned car.

2:30'ish PM - Police apprehend the suspect, based on cell phone tracking technology. They triangulate his location to the nearest cell tower, within a half mile radius of his location, and overlay this with the location of his mother's house. He was hiding there. Whether he wanted to turn himself in or not, his Social Device has given away his whereabouts.

3:00 PM - I watch live broadcast on CNN.com. They casually complain that they did not even get wind of this situation until about 30 - 45 minutes after it happens.

The events, facts, and visuals of a national attempted massacre that occured less than 1/4th mile from me - and less than 250 ft. from my home and love of my life - spread virally, in real time, all due to mobile technology. This is not only mobile technology, it is social technology.

From this point forward, if anyone ever tells you social media is a joke or a trend, feel free to completely write them off as ignorant. As we've mentioned in our presentation this past Wednesday on Social Media, Social Devices are not going anywhere any time soon, and our culture and society will continually be shaped by their benefits and capabilities.

Information is real time. We are all connected, and unless you're grizzly adams going into the wild, no one can hide any longer. Oh yeah...remember that talk about Gen Y and Gen i? Well, guess who wasn't on top of everything... the babyboomer generation (sorry Mom, Dad, and CNN). Our society is growing and connecting at a ridiculously rapid pace, and those who are on Social Devices are the ones on top. Also, my girlfriend has a scheduled eyewitness interview with CNN tomorrow. She may be broadcast around 1:00 PM or so. Stay tuned with CNN to check it out.

Our company & staff's best wishes and deepest concerns go out to those involved in the Orlando and Fort Hood tragedies. We wish and pray for the recovery of those injured, and our hearts go out to those who have lost loved ones.