"25 years ago" account explains how it will cover 9/11 live updates

An X account that chronicles history as if it were unfolding in real time has revealed plans to publish roughly 410 posts retracing the September 11 attacks minute by minute on the 25th anniversary. 2001 Live will recreate the events of September 11, 2001, as they occurred, compressing archival research into a live social media narrative. The project comes as institutions, broadcasters and families prepare to commemorate a quarter-century since the attacks, while seeking to teach their history to a generation with no memory of that day. The National September 11 Memorial & Museum estimates that 100 million Americans are now too young to remember 9/11. In a frequently asked questions post, the account said it plans to post about once every three minutes throughout the day, increasing to an average of two posts per minute between 8:46 a.m. ET, when the first plane struck the World Trade Center, and 10:30 a.m, around the time that the second tower collapsed. The posts will be written and published manually rather than scheduled, creating what the account called a 'completely real-time retelling of the day.' The account's curator, Manny Marotta, said he watched 240 hours of material, including news broadcasts, eyewitness accounts and footage recorded at the scenes, to assemble the timeline. He also said graphic photographs and videos would be excluded because showing them would be 'disrespectful to the victims.' 2001 Live, which uses the handle @25YearsAgoLive, is an X account that presents past events as breaking news, publishing updates on the corresponding dates and times 25 years later. Curated by Marotta, the account began in 2022 by covering events from 1997 and has advanced through history year by year. It now has more than 500,000 followers. Marotta describes its approach as 'live-posting as a reporter embedded in history' and said he has run live-history accounts since 2018. Its companion accounts apply the same format to events from 50, 100 and 250 years ago. Marotta said his timeline will draw on archived reporting, footage recorded at the scenes, eyewitness testimony and academic documentaries. Marotta said people professionally connected to or familiar with the attacks also provided research, which he used to construct what he called the 'most accurate-possible timeline.' He said he attempted to corroborate accounts and collect as much detail about the day as possible. Marotta also broke down his rules for the discussion surrounding the coverage. 'I don't entertain the conspiracy theories,' he wrote, adding that users who seriously promote them in the replies 'will be blocked.' Instead, his reconstruction will follow the account of the attacks he believes is best supported by the available evidence. Marotta, who said he was too young to remember the attacks and has no personal connection to them, described the project as an extension of the historical live-posting he has done since 2018. He said the account would not seek to monetize its 9/11 coverage and pledged to donate any money it did generate that day. The United States will mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on Friday with commemorative events at the sites struck by the hijacked planes in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania. At the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in Lower Manhattan, victims' relatives will read aloud the names of the 2,983 people killed in the 2001 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Six moments of silence will mark when the twin towers were struck and collapsed, the attack on the Pentagon and the crash of United Airlines Flight 93. A seventh will honor those who have died from 9/11-related health conditions. The ceremony will be streamed online. At the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, a morning observance will include the reading of the names of the flight's 40 passengers and crew members and the ringing of the Bells of Remembrance. An afternoon program featuring speakers, music and a public wreath-laying ceremony will also be held at the Wall of Names. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly and Sam Wilson.