Are Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and other social platforms to blame for the rise in mass shootings?
Investigates ı By Jeff Watterson
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The digital landscape in 2007 clearly changed since Columbine in 1999, and the coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting, both traditional and social, clearly highlights this difference. In 2007, Pew Research reported that the Virginia Tech shooting was the single most covered story in the news that year. In the five days following the Virginia Tech shooting, records show that more than half of all news coverage was devoted to updates on the incident (“Biggest Story by Week,” 2007).
Along with traditional television and radio broadcasts, Facebook and Twitter appeared to be the primary social media platforms used to spread news about the shooting. Immediately after the attack, Facebook was used by students on digital and mobile devices to notify others that they were safe and alive. This is something that Columbine students were not able to do due to the limitations of the technology at the time. The platform was also used by the public to create certain support groups, such as “Christians Praying for Virginia Tech” and “Canada Supports Virginia Tech” (Pelofsky, 2007).
These groups created a lot of attention, each group containing hundreds to thousands of members. On the other hand, Twitter also played a crucial role in the spreading of news about the shooting, with multiple celebrities, bloggers, news stations, and media outlets commenting on the violent attack. For example, WLWT.com tweeted at 1:14 that afternoon, “Waiting for confirmation that at least 30 are dead in Virginia Tech shooting, including the gunman,” and soon after, NTV News tweeted, “33 Dead in Virginia Tech shooting.
The gunman chained shut the doors of a hall before opening fire. The gunman killed himself.” Twitter history shows that hundreds of tweets were coming in every couple of minutes, constantly updating the public on additional details. These social media platforms became vital sources of information not only for the victims involved in the shooting, but also for those all over the world who wanted to know what happened in Blacksburg, Virginia that afternoon.
Media coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting only intensified when information was released concerning the package that Cho had sent to NBC. The network received the package in New York and found it to contain photographs, videos, and an 1,800-word manifesto explaining his malicious behavior. The material shows Cho’s anger, frustration, and resentment. In one of the videos, Cho says, “I didn’t have to do this. I could have left. I could have fled. But no, I will no longer run. It’s not for me. For my children, for my brothers and sisters that you f---, I did it for them” (Johnson, 2007).
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