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Tragedy Brings Social Media’s Highlights and Pitfalls to the Forefront

Meredith Russo — Thu, 02 May 2013 17:00:47 +0000

A strange thing happened at dinner with friends a few weeks ago. When each of us reached for our cell phones at the table, it was not to check-in on Foursquare, nor to take photos of our food. It was to check the news – on Twitter.

Photo by David Saunders via Flickr/Plymouth Devon

It was the week of the Boston Marathon bombings, and Boston was on lockdown in pursuit of the second suspect. One friend had been twenty minutes late, citing her office’s being glued to the television as an excuse. The news stalled. Twitter buzzed.

Recent events like the Boston Marathon bombing, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, and even Hurricane Sandy have given new value to social media outlets that may otherwise feel tedious and shallow. In each of these crises, younger generations have adapted what they are perhaps best trained in – the art of connecting – to fit the situation, at times so seamlessly that we do not even realize the leap.

During Hurricane Sandy, when cellular networks in New York City were flooded with traffic – and water – and battery life was scarce, Facebook and Twitter offered instant and efficient ways of sharing one’s “status” broadly, without wasting precious time updating individuals. For those who found themselves in Boston this past week, the same status updates offered a simple way of saying, if nothing else, “I’m okay.”

Perhaps the most jarring realization this past week, however, was with regard to the change in where we look for, or encounter, the news. When accounts of the Boston Marathon bombing first broke, I was on Facebook – a moment of boredom ignited into twenty minutes of indiscriminately viewing photos, articles, and status updates – until I saw the first post.

Within the span of one refresh, my newsfeed was flooded with comments – outrage, sympathy and inquiries to friends and family. Within seconds, Facebook had been seized as a vehicle for crisis, and unrelated posts seemed to halt, either out of respect or fear.

I checked the news. No major news outlets had much to report yet, some citing the same initial tweets as their only source. Thanks to Twitter, we had been alerted but could not be informed. If one considers that at any given moment in any given place, there is likely someone sharing something, it is not surprising that when tragedy strikes, we know. Immediately. However, what follows is less certain. We then live in a state of informed suspense.

It can take minutes, hours, even days for news outlets to uncover the entire story, and events they once might have had hours to report on must now literally be covered immediately to keep up. However, is that coverage then any more elevated than the average tweet?

In the case of the Boston Marathon bombings, firsthand tweets made the news. Whether verified or not, they became part of the event itself and were reported as such.

We are used to being shocked by the news, but as the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and most recently the Boston Marathon bombings have pointed out, there is a different sort of shock that comes from the instant coverage social media provides. While the news is often presented as a muted, filtered version of reality, social media coverage shows a sort of hyper-reality. Blood on sidewalks, firsthand impressions – it has the makings of something so shockingly real that it feels false, surreal.

If eyewitnesses have trouble processing what they see in tragedy, it is for the same reason we as viewers are struck by social media coverage by them. We are not trained to process unfiltered news. Does it dehumanize victims to have the destruction posted alongside someone’s food photos and status updates? Or are those very posts the key to spreading news, solving crimes, and promoting safety in a time of crisis? And more importantly, does that photo remain the next day, when the user resumes posting their food photos and cat memes?

We must of course consider the implications of the news being relayed in a public forum, and how that might make us vulnerable. The potential for manipulation goes without saying. And if criminals can monitor the conversation, to what end? When our world has become so interconnected that the news must play catch-up, where do the checkpoints come in? And without them, what sort of media terrorism could arise?

Fabricated photos of fake events could easily go viral, especially if coordinated at a large scale. This would not take a great deal of planning, nor skill in execution. How would we as a nation react? How long would it take to realize the falsity, and how might our impulses change the next time around? Would we turn to traditional news outlets with renewed faith, or instead see their own filter more clearly and balk at that as well?

These are all questions that will undoubtedly go unanswered and perhaps soon become irrelevant as the social media landscape continues to change, but I do hope the trend continues to be one of seamless innovation, rather than its unchecked implications.

Lady Smarts: How to…Post in a Post-Hurricane/Election World

Meredith Russo — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 21:39:19 +0000

It’s been an exhausting couple of weeks. You were evacuated. You lost power – in all senses of the word – for so long that you debated eating your pumpkin-scented candle and only source of light or heat. You saw cars floating by and started imagining yourself with the Waterworld-inspired cornrows of Spring Break 1996. You never wanted to go back there. Ever.

And then at last the sun came out, the water receded, electricity was restored, and, if you were lucky, not too much damage was done. But then it was time to vote! You saw Facebook friends battling Facebook friends, partisan on-lines being drawn. It got ugly.

Now your fingers are tired and you have a hollow feeling inside that even the largest Obama-shaped-pancake-face won’t fill.

How to post in a post-Hurricane Election world.

Don’t rush it.
The right tweet/photo/status will present itself in time, but you can’t force it.
Put your filter back on because the rapid fire sharing of news and experiences that may have made you a Hurricane Sandy star will not do the same moving forward.
Imagine, for example, if you treated the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday with the same level of urgency and importance: “The turkey JUST hit the table, but the mashed potatoes aren’t ready, and we’re all out of serving spoons. #DIDSOMEONEFORGETTHECRANBERRYSAUCE?”
Nobody wants to see, or read, that.
Instead, take a few breaths. Go ahead and eat your turkey. Enjoy it.
Take a photo if you must, but – like the bird itself, or a freshly baked pie – let it sit for a bit before posting. Otherwise, if you cut it too soon, all those delicious juices and glorious pie gooeyness will spill out into the dish and be lost forever.
Nobody wants a hollow, goo-less liquid mess of a pie for a Facebook friend. And nobody wants to follow your dry turkey ass on Twitter. Regain your composure. Let it cool, and chew carefully so you don’t bite your tongue.
Now, as for the election and those of you who voted on the “losing” side, do a few angry push ups and let it go.
Hell, “Like” some cute pictures of Bo already and be the bigger (wo)man.
If you start to swell up with the desire to post an angry retaliation comment, try and look on the bright side – at least now Mitt Romney can finally blink.
As for Sandy, if you were in the blasé bunch posting pictures of yourselves outside chugging beers in Battery Park until Sandy o’clock, tweeting “Hurricane Blackout here I – ” until you lost power and ate nothing but your unrefrigerated words for the next five days, now would be a good time to start posting some links to Red Cross relief efforts.
Make amends with the big guys (at the weather station) before the next nor’easter rolls in.
The hidden benefit of taking some time is that you may even give the illusion, whether it’s true or not, that you do in fact have a life.
So, go for a walk or something. Read anything that doesn’t require charging, downloading, or sharing. If you do feel the need to share, do it in person. You’ll be amazed at how quickly – or alarmingly slowly – live human interaction comes back to you.
Whatever you do, do not post about that empty feeling in the post-Hurricane Election social media lull. That is, unless you’re under the age of fifteen – in that case, convince your parents to take that Thanksgiving Caribbean Cruise, get yourself some cornrows, and start posting!

Facebook Friend or Boss?: Bill would protect passwords from employers

NYPress — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:42:34 +0000

By Nick Powell

Big Brother wants your Facebook password. A spate of complaints regarding companies requiring applicants and employees to divulge login information for social media accounts has forced the hand of state Sen. Liz Krueger, who introduced legislation recently that would ban such practices. Krueger cited the obvious privacy concerns as well as liability issues for employers as the primary catalysts for the bill.

“Companies might think it’s fine for them to ask for the login information, but in fact you may be creating a legal minefield for the employers themselves,” said Krueger. “All of this ties into the new world that we’re living in. Now everything is online, so it becomes normal.”

Part of the problem, Krueger said, is that we have not figured out rules and etiquette for new technologies. A Facebook user herself, she is not blind to its merits, such as keeping in touch with her nieces and nephews, but she makes sure that what she and they are posting is appropriate.

Nonetheless, Krueger said she sees no justification for companies requesting social media logins when there are myriad ways for companies to do background checks.

“If a company tries to screen you for your employability they can crosscheck you in a million different ways,” said Krueger. “I don’t think we should be going the next step where a company can say, ‘Give me all of your passwords so I can hire or fire you.’ ”

The bill, titled S. 6938, would make it illegal for employers to demand an employee’s or applicant’s personal login credentials or password.

Krueger mentioned that she expects the bill to receive bipartisan support in the Senate, and that several of her Republican colleagues have already reached out to her.

Maryland is the only other state with similar legislation, which passed unanimously in the Senate, and received only 10 “no” votes in the House. Krueger envisions a scenario where many states draft similar bills, driving the issue of Internet privacy to the forefront of the national consciousness. She mentioned that Sen. Chuck Schumer has already launched an investigation into the issue, in hopes of setting a federal standard for Internet privacy.

“An excellent way to move forward and to get national attention on new issues is to watch what state legislatures are grappling with,” she said. “I would argue the states are the laboratories for much legislation that eventually becomes federal law. I think that’s a healthy model for advancing issues.”