Social Media and the Normalization of Violence

According to a report released by The Guardian, the complaints that American police officers have received, which are alleged criminal offences linked to the use of Twitter and Facebook, have risen by 780% within the last four years (Press Association). Based on its astonishing rates of prevalence, there are more than enough reasons to consider social media violence an epidemic and a significant contributor to unrest. For instance, Las Vegas, Orlando, Southerland Springs, Aurora, Charleston, Sandy Hook among others are among the homicide cases that America has witnessed. A majority of investigations following such mass shootings reveal that the criminal act is mainly contributed by social media violence. It is even more astonishing to realize how social media violence and its prevalence has become so normal that the society is hardly moved.

This one, too, was posted live and the assaulters were heard and seen making racial remarks while attacking the 18-year-old. Mahtani Shibani and Seetharaman Deepa posit in their article “Live Video Grows as Platform to Broadcast Violence; Experts say Facebook Live, Twitter's Periscope are Increasingly used to Stream--and Provoke—Violence” that was published in The Wall Street Journal, that the authority tasked with investigating crime has reported an increase in streaming of violence on Facebook and Twitter. No wonder more than 40 broadcasts of a similar nature have been witnessed within a span of 12 months (Mahtani and Seetharaman). The authors argue that violence is commonly “provoked by an interaction on social media platforms,” adding that violence has increased to “dangerous” levels since the inception of social media (Mahtani and Seetharaman). As it stands, social media amplifies violence since anyone with an account can reach millions of people by simply sharing the content on their timeline.

It then provides viewer discretion to the users giving them the option to uncover the content if they please. Moreover, a majority of censoring operations by social networking companies are reactive rather than proactive (Mahatani and Seetharaman). When Robert Goodwin senior’s murderer, Steve Stephens, posted a live video on Facebook, it took the company three days to flag the film (Lazarus). By this time, it had been shared and downloaded several times. Facebook introduced an option for its subscribers to go live, but did not consider proactive mechanisms that can prevent people from abusing this functionality. William, a Duke of Cambridge, also warned that online anonymity “can be really, really dangerous” since it makes cyberbullies to ignore real-life repercussions of their deeds (Press Association). When Yik Yak, an anonymous campus social media founded by Tyler Droll and Brooks Buffington, was about to make a breakthrough and become the “next big thing,” the two innovators had to bring it down following an outcry as a result of high rates of bullying in high schools and colleges (Safronova).

Similarly, Google and Apple brought down Sarahah after a woman made an online petition to have it removed for increased cyberbullying cases. Facebook and Twitter too offer some level of anonymity. People can create pseudo accounts and use them to bully others and incite violence. In their article "The Role of Violent Media Preference in Cumulative Developmental Risk for Violence and General Aggression," Paul Boxer et al. underscore the impact that exposure to violent media has on both “long-term development and short-term expression of aggressive behavior” (417). Sadly, the aggressive behavior that is nurtured by social media leads to fatalities in some instances. Two Wisconsin preteens once led a friend to the woods before stabbing her 19 times. When asked, the small girls shocked the world by confessing that they were inspired by the Internet meme “Slenderman” to commit the heinous crime (Callahan).

Besides, considering its wide audience, using social media allows the police to get to a larger group of people that the traditional methods of newspaper, radio and television would not allow (Paul). While this may be a good idea, one wonders how effective it is to rely on Facebook and Twitter for criminal information considering that social media features a confusing mixture of fake and authentic news information. The fact that the police depend on social media for criminal information and reporting implies that the program depends on truly democratic and honest way of sharing information. However, criminals may take advantage of the honesty loopholes and propagate fake news to confuse both the public and the police and find a way of committing crime. In her article "How Fake News Spreads," Joanna Burkhardt M.

Social media is also used to blame victims. For instance, Robin Givhan writes in his article “Why Are People Mocking Kim Kardashian for Being a Victim of Violent Crime?" in The Washington Post that when Kim Kardashian was robbed, people took to Facebook and Twitter blaming her for showing off too much and arguing that she deserved whatever she got (Givhan). Such kind of social media backlash may not auger well with the victim, yet it may make the perpetrators feel that whatever they did was just right and normal. After considering both sides of the argument, the bottom line is that social media, just like the traditional media, is a double-edged sword. It all depends on how people use it. Some anonymous social media platform startups such as Sarahah and Yik Yak could not survive to maturity due to excessive aggression of their users.

Finally, exposure to violence by social media networks leads to a ripple effect. People become even more violent attacking their fellows in real life. Despite all these challenges, the law enforcement unit uses social media to curb criminal acts through self-policing. Users can keep vigil and report crime to the police using social media. People should strive to bring out the best rather than the beast out of their social use. Therefore, normalization of social media violence ought to be curbed to save lives. Efforts to make life better should not be retrogressive, but progressive to humanity. Works Cited Boxer, Paul, et al. The Role of Violent Media Preference in Cumulative Developmental Risk for Violence and General Aggression. org/docview/204526787?accountid=39773. Burkhardt, Joanna M. How Fake News Spreads. Library Technology Reports, vol.

no. Inside Kids’ Chilling Slenderman Murder Plot.  New York Post, 12 Sept.  2017, nypost. com/2017/01/22/inside-kids-chilling-slenderman-murder-plot/. Accessed 7 Aug. washingtonpost. com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/10/03/why-are-we-mocking-kim-kardashian-for-being-a-victim-of-violent-crime/?utm_term=. a1415c7b8b6f. Accessed 8 Aug. Lazarus, Ben. ProQuest, https://montgomerycollege. idm. oclc. org/login?url=https://search-proquest-com. montgomerycollege. Accessed 7 Aug. Ng-Mak, Daisy S. et al. Normalization of Violence among Inner-City Youth: A Formulation for Research. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, vol. Paul, Margaret. Police use Social Media to Prevent Crime; Broken Hill Police are Working with Community Groups to Reduce Crime, using Social Media. ABC Regional News, Jul 04, 2012. ProQuest, https://montgomerycollege. idm. theguardian. com/media/2012/dec/27/social-media-crime-facebook-twitter. Accessed 27 July 2018. Press Association. William Warns about Online Anonymity in Anti-Cyberbullying Campaign. The Rise and Fall of Yik Yak, the Anonymous Messaging App.  The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia, 20 Jan.

 2018, www. nytimes. com/2017/05/27/style/yik-yak-bullying-mary-washington. idm. oclc. org/login. aspx?direct=true&db=edsgao&AN=edsgcl. site=eds-live&scope=site. idm. oclc. org/docview/1326638102?accountid=39773, doi:http://dx. doi. org. oclc. org/login?url=https://search-proquest-com. montgomerycollege. idm. oclc.