At 7:08 a.m. ET, the Mitt Romney "VP app" officially alerted the country of Romney's pick for VP: Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan.

But it was not as simple as downloading the much talked about app and getting the results. The highly anticipated announcement really began through a different new media venture on Friday night- twitter.

At roughly 11 p.m., Romney's communications director Gail Gitcho tweeted: . @ MittRomney will announce his VP pick tomorrow in Norfolk. Download the VP app to be the first to know. http://mi.tt/Mitt-VP # Mitt2012.

Shortly after, the Romney campaign sent out an official release announcing that Mitt Romney would be unveiling his pick for the number two spot on Saturday morning on the USS Wisconsin. The madness began.

Within minutes of the announcement, ABC's Jonathan Karl reported that other frontrunner - Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, former Minnesota Gov. Pawlenty and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio - had been told they were not the pick.

Initial reports indicated that it was Paul Ryan. Plus, the choice of the USS Wisconsin seemed to be a sign. At roughly 12:15 p.m. ET, ABC's Shushannah Walshe, who has been covering Tim Pawlenty for the past several weeks, reported that Pawlenty told her he was not the pick.

"I'm keeping my schedule tomorrow so I won't be in Virginia and now we just have to wait for Gov. Romney to announce his pick," Pawlenty told reporters when he arrived at his hotel after a Romney fundraiser in Durham, New Hampshire.

A little later, ABC's Gregory Simmons reported from Columbus, Ohio that a Republican source familiar with the situation told ABC News that Romney had called Portman himself to inform him that he had not been selected to join the ticket.

After midnight, ABC and other outlets had confirmed with sources outside the campaign that Ryan was in fact the pick. Then, finally, as the sun was creeping up, the app alert went out.

"Mitt's choice for VP is Paul Ryan. Spread the word about America's Comeback Team. #RomneyRyan2012? it said.

And the general election truly begins.