Social media played a pivotal role transmitting information during and after the coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris. Concerned family, friends, and relatives turned to Facebook and Twitter to check in on the wellbeing of their loved ones. The web is now flooded with images of the attacks, and shows of support for France.
“When I logged into Facebook I found my message box full with people wanting to check in on me, even people who I hadn’t talked to since high school,” says James Chily, a St. Lawrence exchange student in the France program. James used so- cial media to check in on his host brother who was working in Paris during the attacks. “It was a huge relief to find out he was safe. He was just baking a cake with his girlfriend,” says Chily.
Assistant Professor Eloise Brezault currently directs the France program in Rouen, 80 miles northwest of Paris. When she woke up to the news of the attacks, she immediately sent texts, and Face- book messages to all of the students in the program. “It was very helpful to immediately see that everyone involved in the program was safe,” says Brezault.
Social media provided a sigh of relief to those who were worried about the whereabouts of friends and family in the city. Facebook released ‘Safety Check’, a feature which allowed people to identify themselves and others as safe. Twit- ter released the hashtag #Porte- Ouverte to identify safe havens for people fleeing the attacks to go and rest.
“It was a useful tool, but I wish it had been made available to other crises around the world. Where was safety check during the earth- quakes in Japan? Or during the at- tacks in Lebanon?” says Amy Fei- ereisel ‘15, a St. Lawrence graduate and a former The Hill News editor living in Paris. Feiereisel agrees that the Facebook features were use- ful, but felt that people around the world who face terror on a daily basis are marginalized because of a lack of access to this technology.
Facebook helped people check whether their loved ones were safe, and Twitter helped people in shock find safe havens in a sea of chaos. The content of these websites has changed since the attacks. Anyone scrolling through their newsfeed will find photos or armed police patrolling the streets, videos of the attacks, and text from people expressing both sadness and rage.
“The images, and videos are overwhelming for many of those who experienced the attacks, it’s hard to find a thoughtful analysis of what actually happened,” added Brezault. She had been relying more on sources like The New York Times and Le Monde for a better interpretation of what really hap- pened in Paris.
“It’s hard to avoid the sting of what happened when you’re con- stantly being bombarded. It’s so much more horrifying that I ever could’ve imagined,” noted Hannah Gauthier, a St. Lawrence student in France. Gauthier also spoke of the controversy surrounding Face- book profile picture filters, allowing people to superpose a French na- tional flag over their profile photos in the sign of sympathy. She points out that only showing one flag marginalizes people effected in other countries.
Gauthier noted that it is important to support not only people of Paris, but also the Muslim community that will face potential backlash from these attacks. Hate is already spreading across the web, including an image of an atomic explosion with text claiming: “Japan has been at peace with the U.S. since August 9th, 1945. It’s time we made peace with the Muslim world.” It is hard to even put into words how out of touch this sick fear-mongering mentality is.
All hope is not lost, the web of- fers a forum where an educated conversation can be held about re- ligious prejudice. “This conversation is happening on social media, and it’s going to help us realize the majority of Muslims are not extremists,” says Chily.
Social media is already lighting up with the hashtag #NotInMy- Name which is being used by Mus- lim people who are condemning the Paris terrorist attacks.