One of the major reactions to the Boston marathon bombing occurred on the internet. Social media was especially rife with speculation over who the bombers were and why they committed those acts. One of the greater spectres that has loomed over the social media landscape in the past few years is the group called “Anonymous.” While the social media reaction to the Boston bombings might be unrelated to “Anonymous,” and instead constitute a spontaneous reaction to the event, it might still be useful to look at this group of internet users as a model for how social media participants might behave. “Anonymous” is known for being a loose association of unidentified individuals who use internet technology to carry out hacks on the web in the name of protest.
According to Gabriella Coleman (2012), “Anonymous” began on the internet forum 4chan, and grew from the culture on that site (paragraph 1). 4chan (n.d.) describes itself as “...[A] simple image-based bulletin board where anyone can post comments and share images.” (What is 4chan? section, para. 1) The site notes that the name “Anonymous” came from the moniker used to identify posters that did not choose to register an identity for posts on the site (Who is “Anonymous”? section, para. 1).
Anonymous does not have any formal structure or organization. In his paper, “Is it OK to Be an Anonymous?” Phillip Serracino-Inglott (2013) explores the organization of Anonymous. He says its “members” consist of a heterogeneous mix of computer hackers, activists and trouble-makers. All of these members range wildly in terms of level of expertise and experience. Participation in Anonymous activities even vary a great amount, with some participating in activities deeply, while others only lend a hand...
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...to the Boston bombings were a case of internet vigilantism is up for debate, and it’s unlikely that Anonymous itself had much involvement in the social media reaction to the bombings. According to Phillip Serracino-Inglott (2013), however “Anonymous are indeed vigilantes,” (p. 138). Even if vigilantism may not be part of the social media reaction to the Boston bombings, Anonymous is worth mentioning as a demonstration of how vigilantes might behave on the internet. They show how the internet allows unassociated people to unite together in reaction to major events. According to Serracio-Inglott (2013), Anonymous users make use of, and are perhaps even influenced by the various technologies they employ for their activities (p.228). Their participation in major political events makes them a notable factor when studying the internet reaction to these kinds of events.
In Stephens article, he tells how “Social media could serve as a source of live, raw information. It could summon people to the streets and coordinate their movements in real time. And it could swiftly push back against spurious media narratives with the force of a few thousand retweets”. He explains how technology can be used to push to change problems in our society and encourage us to get up and do something about it. Being able to use our capabilities if technology to fullest is “A huge reason for all this success is that, perhaps more than any other modern American protest movement, they’ve figured out how to marshal today’s tools”. In McKinnon’s explanation, she states how “To their credit, some companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Google and Facebook have joined forces with civil liberties groups in an attempt to persuade the Obama administration not to push anti-encryption measures that would enable government and law enforcement officials to access our secure communications”. This is goes with how technology can be used to make a difference just like what Stephen was saying in order to inform people on what’s going on. McKinnon explains how our social media servers have also taken a disagreement on invading our private lives. As it stands, any individual or
The United States, land of the free and the home of the brave, has been through many historical shootings and bombings, Events like the Boston Marathon bombing is a great example of a horrific event that happened to the American soil. The Boston Marathon bombing was a terrorist attack that killed 3 innocent civilians and estimated an amount of 264 other innocent civilians were injured. The Boston Marathon occurred on Patriot's Day, the third Monday of April. The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon hosted by several cities in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States(Wikipedia). The Marathon is always held on Patriots’ Day. Also, it is the world’s oldest annual marathon. Amateur and professional runners from all around the world,
In the essay “Where Anonymity Breeds Contempt” the author Julie Zhou demonstrates the negative impact Anonymity in the internet has had on human beings. Following with a convincing argument for unmasking these “trolls” of the internet.
The Tsarnaev brothers carry backpacks to two locations near the finish line on Boylston Street. Tamerlan, the older brother, placed his bomb near the finish line at 2:42 p.m. just seven minutes before the first blast. He placed the backpack so the lid of the pressure cooker faced the crowd to cause the most damage (Nova, 2013). Just four minutes before the first blast, the younger brother, Dzhokhar positioned his device near the Forum restaurant. At 2:50 p.m. the cheers turn to terror as the first blast rocked the crowd near the finish line and 10 seconds later, another blast only a block away in front of the Forum restaurant, devastated this annual event just four hours and ten minutes after the race began (Barrett, Shallwani, & Perez, 2013). After that blast, the injured are everywhere. Eight year old Martin Richard, 29 year old Krystle Campbell and 23 year old Lu Lingzi lost their lives that day, 14 others lost limbs. A total of 264 people were injured from the explosions (Bodden, 2014, p. 21). As the chaos was going on the Tsarnaev brothers calmly, but quickly, leave the scene. They had completed their dirty deed and probably thought they would get away with it.
minds of many and all of America would be listening to his reaction to the
A day that was supposed to be happy turned in seconds. People were injured or killed. Family members were devastated. The Boston Marathon was supposed to be a fun and exciting day for people watching and for the runners. We shouldn’t take every moment for granted, because you never know when it might be your last day or what we might consider "normal." April 15th 2013, will always be a day remembered in history.
On April 19, 1995 the history of Oklahoma was drastically changed. Buildings crumbled, lives were taken, and hearts shattered. Timothy McVeigh’s actions resulted in the destruction of the Alfred P. Murrah building, and the lives of people for many years following the event.
April 15, 2013 tragedy occurred during a prolific event in Boston Massachusetts where a bomb went off in the middle of a marathon killing three people and seriously injuring one hundred and seventy people. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev were announced suspects of the Boston marathon bombing by FBI after watching footage of the bombing before and after the incident happened. That same evening a campus police officer at MIT was shot and killed and the Tsarnaev brothers were announced suspects for the incident of that police officers death as well. April 19, 2013 the Tsarnaev brothers had stolen a car and fled the city but were pursued by police which led to a gunfight in Watertown Massachusetts. The high speed police chase led to the death of Tamerlan Tsarnaev and the arrest of his brother Dzhokhar
“Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted” by Malcolm Gladwell is an article published in the Annals of Innovation, by The New Yorker magazine. Gladwell starts with an example of true activism. He opens the article with a depiction of how the Greensboro sit-ins contributed to the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. Then the author supplies two examples of protests that have taken place in recent years that some people have said were started and organized on Twitter. He then goes on to clarify why Twitter was not a factor in these events and how media and government can distort certain truths about social media’s role in protests. The author continues the article by explaining why communication and relationships were more efficient before the era of social media and then compares social networking from the past and now. He uses this strategy to illustrate social media’s effect on how we interact and our commitment towards one another. Gladwell goes on to explain the organization of activist groups of the past and its
Anonymity can bring out the worst in people – people may become bullies, openly racist or sexist, or may even threaten or provoke others. The latest example of this behavior comes from student protests at this campus where racial tension recently led to the resignation of Mizzou’s university president. As evidence for racism in the campus community, the student body president had screenshots from this anonymous social platform. Launched in 2013, Yik Yak spread quickly enough to become a core mode of interaction among students in many universities and colleges because of its features of anonymity and transience of identity. As a social network, it is the perfect platform to provide a glimpse into the culture of a local community where people are free to not hold back any discrepancies. As is often with the case of anonymity, sometimes what people see is bullying, hate speech, and threats; however, the content like the hate speech and threats from Missouri are actually largely the exception for Yik Yak culture. Yik Yak feed usually contains typical sexual jokes and complaints about classes and weather, along with strains with positive messages of
The term “cyber terrorism” refers to the use of the Internet as a medium in which an attack can be launched such as hacking into electrical grids, security systems, and vital information networks. Over the past four decades, cyber terrorists have been using the Internet as an advanced communication tool in which to quickly spread and organize their members and resources. For instance, by using the instantaneous spread of information provided by the Internet, several terrorist’s groups have been able to quickly share information, coordinate attacks, spread propaganda, raise funds, and find new recruits for their cause. Instantaneous and unpredictable, the technological advantages these terrorists have obtained from using the Internet includes
The digital unarmed strategies in Arab Spring are not the substitute to the physical actions and insurrections, yet they worked jointly with the traditional insurgency methods to reach greater audiences and appeal more public support. Social media is not the strategy that sparked or guaranteed the revolution, but it vitally contributed to the spread of movements.
In mere minutes, any active user can access information and associations regarding various causes, such as the riots happening in Egypt and the Middle East. Teenagers, in the Middle East, used their Facebook accounts to campaign the “Day of Rage” in Saudi Arabia. Helping to set the Arab riots in motion, the event demanded elections, freedom for women, and the liberation of political prisoners. The activists’ goals to bring democracy to Egypt and removing Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s fourth president from 1981 to 2011, still continue and perhaps with the assistance of Facebook they will accomplish these ambitions. The causes campaigned through Facebook have served as a fundraise...
While the liberty of speech on Internet strengthens the democratization, it also provides political dissidents with channels and arranges to undermine. McLaughlin (2007) reveals that in Middle East, the Internet offers non-state dissident actors a potentially potent tool to accomplish their political objectives. Consequently, without the nation-imposed constraint... ... middle of paper ... ... ool, the public even the nation might suffer inestimable disasters.
The Internet along with other technologies has opened channels of communication. Not only has the Internet played a great role in forming international public opinions regarding the United States throughout the Middle East, Asia, and Western Europe, but it has also helped to democratize the rest of the world by allowing them to voice their own opinions. However, sometimes the incited cyber public opinions would lead to some extremely negative behaviors and cause serious problems like cyber bullying, real life crimes, and even a long time social unrest.