Outpouring of grief on Web

Official and unofficial fan club sites from India to Germany have paid tribute to Michael Jackson with solemn pages or requests for condolences via email.

The Internet was flooded with electronic tears for Michael Jackson today, with micro-blogging site Twitter notching up hundreds of tributes every minute including many from fellow celebrities. The dead singer's official website, www.michaeljackson.com, carried just a single red page of tributes from his record company. Official and unofficial fanclub sites from India to Germany also paid tribute to the star with single solemn pages or requests for condolences via email.

Users of social-networking site Facebook quickly created new pages in his honour, with a page called "Michael Jackson RIP" notching up more than 28,000 members in just a few hours. The dead singer shot past the Iranian election on the list of most popular topics on Twitter as news of his death ricocheted around cyberspace. The top two "trending topics" on Twitter were Jackson-related within hours of his death, pushing Farrah Fawcett, the Charlie's Angels star who also died on Thursday, down to number three and the Iranian election down to number five.

"RIP MJ", "MichaelJackson" and "Thriller" were among the so-called hashtags being used by Twitter users to group messages about his death. A host of celebrities led the electronic outpouring of grief. "RIP MJ he lives forever in my heart. I will never forget the day he came to see me in the studio and I played him music," wrote Wyclef Jean, formerly of The Fugees. Two-time Oscar winner Jane Fonda wrote: "I am stunned. My friend, Michael Jackson is dead."

"Michael Jackson showed me that you can actually see the beat. He made the music come to life!! He made me believe in magic. I will miss him," US rapper-actor P Diddy wrote. Actress Lindsay Lohan wrote: "Sending my love and prayers out to Michael and his family". Even the British foreign secretary David Miliband had his say: "Never has one soared so high and yet dived so low. RIP Michael," he wrote.

Tearful messages in several languages from all over the world hit the Twitter thread "MichaelJackson" every second or so. But several other Twitter threads also clocked up the grief from its millions of users. Cswint wrote: "Dancing around listening to MJ the way he would have wanted it. Everyone dance." Infinitespace wrote: "We danced to MichaelJackson records at my 7th birthday party. His music will last longer than Beethoven."

Others, meanwhile, lamented the fact that they will not now see their hero live in concert. Twitterer Bensong wrote: "Just cancelled my London hotel booking. I was only going for the Michael Jackson concert." Others refused to accept their hero had simply died of a heart attack. Hinasafi wrote: "Autopsy will tell the truth - reliable sources told me about al al-qaeda's planned involvement in the death of Michael Jackson."

A brand new Facebook page called "Michael Jackson Isn't Dead" was created "For those of us who refuse to believe the king of pop is dead and who are willing to begin a quest to find him!" It had only six members. Another site called "Michael Jackson Isn't Dead, Just Preparing for a Strong Come-back," had 34-members. It stated: "Michael Jackson isn't dead! This is just all part of his plan for a super surprise come-back tour!! It's the perfect plan!" To leave your thoughts on Michael Jackson visit www.thenational.ae/yourview

*AFP