Hurricane Sandy prompts surge of photo sharing

by Alicia M. Cohn - 10/29/12 9:09 PM ET

{mosads}Most users are tagging storm photos with the hashtags #hurricanesandy, #sandy and #frankenstorm. Many of those Instagram users are the same reporters spotted standing out in the elements in various locations down the East Coast, but plenty of other photos posted on the platform are from people dwelling in the path of the storm. With the width of the storm estimated at 900 miles, a huge number of people felt the effects and rushed to document the storm’s impact.

Photos are not verified, and several compelling but manipulated images have already gone viral and then been debunked Monday.

The Atlantic, among others, did some fact checking of the images floating around on Monday.

A few members of Congress shared photos on Monday as well, but most from inside evacuation centers, and few used Instagram.

Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.), though, shared a shot of the view from Plum Island, Mass.