Victims in Paris, social media asks, what about #Beirut

On Friday November 13, 2015, multiple coordinated attacks rocked Paris, France.  In the immediate aftermath, people took to social media. A day before, Beirut, Lebanon was also attacked but sadly did not receive as much media attention as the attacks on Paris. 

 

Social Media is a computer-mediated tool that allow people to create, share or exchange information, and pictures/videos virtual communities instantly. By that definition it would make sense to think that it is a force for good. However, in the case of the terror attacks on Paris, France and Beirut, Lebanon, we can see how the misinformation shared, served as a force for ill.

The real issue is with all media that gives instant access, which we saw how that raised issues because people believed the first thing that made news without verifying. Social media is not the problem, as it served a great good in that people were able to use it and let friends and family know they were safe.  More importantly, others used social media to report on the attacks and provide officials with key information that helped identify the attackers. If not for social media this would have not be possible, as in past times of crisis, there were limited means of contacting loved ones. Information was much more difficult to obtain, taking longer to draw any conclusions about the perpetrators or the causes of the attacks.

Another issue was something that has always happened but with social media it is able to happen on a much wider scale. There was immediate speculation about who the attackers were and much of which was not verified.  Many used social media to spread hatred, racism and intolerance with fake stories, and edited photos, which created confusion. Taking away from the focus to deal directly with these threats. In this way the use of social media was ill but as you can see, it's people who were to blame. We need not simply rely on the American media as we see how it's bias made for inaccurate news, and not just blindly accept what is being told is the truth. 

  “Many of the developed world's citizens gave no conscious thought to Islam pre-9/11. Now we switch on the news every evening and, though there are many trouble spots around the world, as a general rule it's easy to make an educated guess at one of the participants: Muslims vs Jews in "Palestine", Muslims vs Hindus in Kashmir, Muslims vs Christians in Africa, Muslims vs Buddhists in Thailand, Muslims vs Russians in the Caucasus, Muslims vs backpacking tourists in Bali, Muslims vs Danish cartoonists in Scandinavi."
                                                            ~Mark Steyn

http://www.steynonline.com/7308/the-week-in-nothing-to-do-with-islam