Please be warned, this article does contain strong language and unpleasant material in some parts. A different use of social media is displayed here. Typically we think of social media spreading marketing ideas or connecting with long distant and long term friends, or even organizing an event. But rarely are things such as gang wars fueled by social media. Two years ago this month a "war" between two young rappers was spurred on and continued to be fueled on social media. Two rappers would tweet back and forth taunting each other, until one of them got shot and killed while riding on the back of his friend's bike. The other sent tweets laughing at the matter and ended up in juvy. The point being that social media can increase good things rapidly but can also spread negative things quickly as well. These two rappers took advantage of social media to get famous and make large amounts of money quickly, but it also increased the speed in which their haters actually took action on their hatred. I believe social media is a much stronger impact on our lives thank it is believed to be.
http://www.wired.com/2013/09/gangs-of-social-media/
I'd heard about this story in passing but never knew how much of a role social media played in it. I agree that social media can be a good thing but it's kind of crazy to think that it can lead to someone's death or arrest. Lil Jojo might still be alive had he not posted what he did and Chief Keef probably wouldn't have ended up in juvy had he not been dumb enough to be in a video holding a weapon. It really does have a big impact on our lives.
ReplyDeleteI heard brief mentions of this but never new the whole story. What I find interesting about this, is that the gangs are not afraid to post pictures of guns, drugs, and money on social media where you are easily identified and it is available to the public. This shows they have little regard for law enforcement in the area or even their families. Social media provides a support for these kids as they post an idea, that might be just a glancing thought, and they get loads of feedback both in support and aggression.
ReplyDeleteI heard brief mentions of this but never new the whole story. What I find interesting about this, is that the gangs are not afraid to post pictures of guns, drugs, and money on social media where you are easily identified and it is available to the public. This shows they have little regard for law enforcement in the area or even their families. Social media provides a support for these kids as they post an idea, that might be just a glancing thought, and they get loads of feedback both in support and aggression.
ReplyDelete