The aftermath of the Boston marathon bombings showed social media at its best in providing quick, timely information as well as at its worst in helping to feed rumours and misinformation. It also caught a number of brands out who had scheduled, but failed to stop, promotional tweets. In a talk at the 'Housing Goes Digital' conference, Rabbit's head of content Jim Shaughnessy used Boston and other major news events to show how the Internet has changed the way we consume news, and also how news stories are shaped. The presentation then goes to show how real-time news leads to real-time marketing, and what this means for brands.