In 1999, the uninjured students in Columbine High School could not take cell phone video footage of the shooters who killed 12 students and a teacher. They couldn’t send digital photos to national media outlets for immediate release.

And, unlike the creators of dozens of groups yesterday, they couldn’t set up Facebook groups in memory of their friends who were killed that day.

But, after Monday’s shootings at Virginia Tech, cell-phone video footage and pictures flooded national networks such as CNN — giving viewers the perspective of an eyewitness.

About 55.5 million Americans have cell phones with video capability, a service that has been in existence since 2000, according to a CBS News article.

Now, as illustrated Monday, the average citizen can be a news reporter.

It’s a trend that Fredessa Hamilton, a graduate student and electronic media writing instructor, said won’t fade out.

“The fact that the CNN got that [student cell-phone footage] up as quickly as they did — that’s going to be more pervasive,” she said.

Cell phone footage isn’t particularly sharp, but, according to Robert Schrag, a professor in communication, the images are not always what counts.

“One of the students in [my] class pointed out that because you knew what was going on — you already knew the story — the sound of the shots being fired became all the more chilling,” he said.

Schrag said this is the case in many traumatic experiences — people cannot usually recall what happened in an automobile accident.

“Having people there with cameras and the inclination to use them may begin to show us video that is actually more real,” he said.

And while Schrag said news networks will continue to use footage from cell-phone cameras, these clips will not replace the “polished video” viewers are accustomed to.

Cell-phone camera recordings, however, are not the only way students are spreading the word.

Facebook groups students created nationwide varied in purpose yesterday — most offering condolences, some discussing the shooter and at least one served to unite uninjured Virginia Tech students.

In the era of the Internet, instantaneous information is expected. Waiting for tomorrow’s paper is no longer the only way to read print editions of the news.

When the Titanic sank 95 years ago, crew members used telegraph technology to spread the news to both rescuers and the public.

According to Ed Funkhouser, associate professor of communication, this was the beginning of electronic technology that has advanced greatly over time.

Now, he said, we expect news almost instantaneously, and citizens with digital cameras cover where the media cannot go or arrive at fast enough.

“Everyone, therefore, is a journalist, a photographer,” he said.

But, Funkhouser said these “journalists and photographers” are not professionally trained, and information they post on Web sites might not be valid.

“What does this mean for things like accuracy in the news?” he said.

He said the validity of news content, especially on the Internet, is becoming “increasingly difficult to sort out,” and users should be wary.

Schrag said a lack of editorial review makes online content questionable.

“It’s cool that it’s like a giant newsroom that we can drop into whenever we want,” Schrag said. “The problem is the editor is not there.”

He said articles online could be real or biased, and the consumer must be skeptical.

“Are we getting new quick, good information? Yes — sometimes. And sometimes we’re being conned,” he said.

Skepticism aside, Funkhouser said a population of spontaneous journalists has the potential to improve news coverage.