Mainstream media was denounced as irrelevant, having been swept by on-scene reporters and live-tweeters. Many seemed glued to the action, listening to Boston PD scanners and spreading news like wildfire. People claimed this to be the dawning of a new era, the death of outdated cable news. What most confused me about this particular part of the conversation is this doesn't seem like that much of a revelation. We saw it happen in 2011 with the Bid Laden Raid, and coincidentally, the other night I was Skyping with my parents who thought they felt an earthquake and the first thing I did? Take to Twitter to search and see if anyone else was talking about it or had more information (unfortunately, what they felt was the resounding blast from the West Texas explosion.) What I found most interesting is the value we gave small time reporters and the validity we believed them to have, and the speculatory nature of Twitter news. Let me say that while writing this, I am overwhelmed by the number of bases there are to hit, so I am going to hit on the two that are really lingered with me into the morning, and now afternoon.
We were inundated with information, and seemingly took much of it at face value. Reports of suspects names were rampant, and similar to a game of telephone, were passed on and on and on. One suspect in particular was the last name I read before going to sleep, only to awake and read that his identification was entirely wrong. It is incredibly devastating that that student and his family were on the receiving end of the internet junior gumshoes well-intentioned, but ultimately damaging speculation. The aching question I have is what stake do we have in this story?
I don't want to discount the good citizen journalism has done; we cannot deny that we live in a unique world where every person cannot only be a witness, but have the tools at their fingertips to report quickly and to a large audience. But for whom does one report? There seems to be a thin line between reporting for the common good, for the sake of history, and for entertainment value or self-gratification. There were people tweeting their experiences and their observations, but then many more regurgitating this information from their own personal accounts. There were people, at home, in states far away, interpreting the various tweets they were coming across, and submitting that to the public. How many were seeking to pass on relevant information to necessary parties versus how many were simply wanting to be a "part of the action" from their bed? It comes to a point where it is strange and you have to question why people are participating in the conversation.
As I followed the story, I started to feel physically sick as I had flashbacks to footage I had seen of O.J. Simpson's arrest. I was young when the incident happened, so I don't remember much of the news coverage, but this December my parents were watching ESPN's Watch 30 for 30: June 17th, 1994 (here on Netflix.) I remember the hoards of people lining the streets, chasing the vehicles to get a glimpse firsthand, and to this day watching the footage still makes me uncomfortable.
My largest concern in last night's events became are people able to do their jobs? To what extent do we sacrifice or compromise safety for reporting? And most importantly, why? One of my favorite quotes is about care versus curiosity - that when people ask how you are or about something specific in your life, some people care, but most are merely curious. I think it is important that we never lose the ability to take a step back and analyze what stake do we have in this story and what is my role? And what might we, members of the general public, be doing that could jeopardize someone else's ability to fulfill their role? The internet is a boundless forum and we're not sharing information with just our friends, or loved ones, or coworkers - we are sharing it with the world.
With all of this said, social media also served a great purpose in the wake of last night's events: connecting people and furthering dialogue. People across the globe were able to connect and communally process and reflect. It is my hope in coming days that we will continue to talk to one another about our personal observations and thoughts, and the implications of these events. What stake do we have in this story? To dissect and learn from it - to discuss, collaborate, and progress together from where we are now to ensure to the best of our abilities that things are better for the future.
