By Natalie Hamil, Staff Writer, Emerson College
The tragic Boston events of last week left many people in various states of action. Some people were left speechless, mulling over the horrors that occurred during the already very long week. Others, however, chose to speak instead, taking action in the most glorious of ways. Their ability to do so was been made possible by our culture's dependency on social media.
Whether we like it or not, our culture today has an addiction to social media. If we haven't Tweeted, Facebooked, or Instagrammed something (or a combination of the three), it didn't happen. We use social media to document our lives in this respect, and because of this, social media often gets a bunch of hate. However, at the same time, social media can be used for the greater good by promoting social causes and helping to spread news from media outlets faster. This has been highlighted spectacularly by the recent events involving Boston.
When chaos first struck, news reporters sent out tweets right as events were unfolding, depicting events as they saw them and keeping the public informed. Now, as the investigation of the crime scene continues, reporters and spectators alike are sharing all the information that they can through various social media outlets. While a lot of the news sources may have false information, the important lesson to learn from this is that they are giving the public the information that they have as quickly as they can. People rely on these up-to-the-minute news updates in a crisis situation such as the Boston bombing. Those waiting with baited breath in the city need only to update their Twitter feed every few minutes to read the most recent rumors and confirmed stories. Keeping everyone up-to-date reassures and warns the entire population about the situation at hand.
But more than just that, social media has been used in a number of beautiful ways over these past weeks to help people cope with the tragedy that has occurred. Candlelight vigil events sprung up on Facebook as early as the day of the tragedy, although they were encouraged to reschedule. People from around the city, the area, the region, and the nation joined together to honor those injured or killed in the explosions, and the word about these events had been spread through social media.
So many heart-warming and goosebump-inducing events have been created, such as Boston Marathon: The Last 5. Its creators, students at Boston College, have encouraged everyone from around the area and from every nearby college to attend a walk from BC to the finish line of the race with the bone-chilling message, "We decide when our marathon ends." Another event, "Boston Strong," has developed Boston Strong t-shirts, which are available for order right now (http://inktothepeople.com/marketplace/ink-detail/3731). The t-shirts were created by Emerson College students, and the $20 cost is all being donated to The One Fund Boston, a fund created by Mayor Menino and Governor Patrick which will collect and raise money to help those families most affected by the tragic events.
Without our reliance on social media, these movements could have never been started. Our knowledge of the situation that occurred would have been terrifyingly limited. In the world that we live in today, it's important for us to embrace the social media that surrounds us, and in this scenario, it has really come through for us. We have used social media to bring our community together as one, and we have used it to help keep our community safe and informed during the aftermath of the Marathon bombing.
Natalie Hamil is a Writing, Literature and Publishing major at Emerson College. She enjoys skimming bookstore shelves, watching the sun rise, and wearing bright/patterned pants.
The tragic Boston events of last week left many people in various states of action. Some people were left speechless, mulling over the horrors that occurred during the already very long week. Others, however, chose to speak instead, taking action in the most glorious of ways. Their ability to do so was been made possible by our culture's dependency on social media.
Whether we like it or not, our culture today has an addiction to social media. If we haven't Tweeted, Facebooked, or Instagrammed something (or a combination of the three), it didn't happen. We use social media to document our lives in this respect, and because of this, social media often gets a bunch of hate. However, at the same time, social media can be used for the greater good by promoting social causes and helping to spread news from media outlets faster. This has been highlighted spectacularly by the recent events involving Boston.
When chaos first struck, news reporters sent out tweets right as events were unfolding, depicting events as they saw them and keeping the public informed. Now, as the investigation of the crime scene continues, reporters and spectators alike are sharing all the information that they can through various social media outlets. While a lot of the news sources may have false information, the important lesson to learn from this is that they are giving the public the information that they have as quickly as they can. People rely on these up-to-the-minute news updates in a crisis situation such as the Boston bombing. Those waiting with baited breath in the city need only to update their Twitter feed every few minutes to read the most recent rumors and confirmed stories. Keeping everyone up-to-date reassures and warns the entire population about the situation at hand.
But more than just that, social media has been used in a number of beautiful ways over these past weeks to help people cope with the tragedy that has occurred. Candlelight vigil events sprung up on Facebook as early as the day of the tragedy, although they were encouraged to reschedule. People from around the city, the area, the region, and the nation joined together to honor those injured or killed in the explosions, and the word about these events had been spread through social media.
So many heart-warming and goosebump-inducing events have been created, such as Boston Marathon: The Last 5. Its creators, students at Boston College, have encouraged everyone from around the area and from every nearby college to attend a walk from BC to the finish line of the race with the bone-chilling message, "We decide when our marathon ends." Another event, "Boston Strong," has developed Boston Strong t-shirts, which are available for order right now (http://inktothepeople.com/marketplace/ink-detail/3731). The t-shirts were created by Emerson College students, and the $20 cost is all being donated to The One Fund Boston, a fund created by Mayor Menino and Governor Patrick which will collect and raise money to help those families most affected by the tragic events.
Without our reliance on social media, these movements could have never been started. Our knowledge of the situation that occurred would have been terrifyingly limited. In the world that we live in today, it's important for us to embrace the social media that surrounds us, and in this scenario, it has really come through for us. We have used social media to bring our community together as one, and we have used it to help keep our community safe and informed during the aftermath of the Marathon bombing.
Natalie Hamil is a Writing, Literature and Publishing major at Emerson College. She enjoys skimming bookstore shelves, watching the sun rise, and wearing bright/patterned pants.