Live Facebook video of the sniper shootings of Dallas police officers, as well as a woman’s video capturing the fatal shooting of her boyfriend during a stop by police, also are being streamed by media such as The Washington Post.
Mia Moody-Ramirez, Ph.D., a Baylor University researcher of social media and associate professor of journalism, public relations and new media, can shed light on why people turn to such social media as Facebook Live and Twitter’s Periscope during a tragedy, particularly one involving race, gender and politics. She also can comment about the hazards of relying solely on social media rather than traditional outlets.
The four primary reasons for using social media: 1. To watch the story unfold in real time. 2. To observe the perspectives of others3. To vent.4. To bring about change.
“Individuals can promote and/or share certain viewpoints or advance social movements,” Moody-Ramirez said. “Occupy Wall Street, the Arab Spring and now Black Lives Matter are all social movements that originated and spread on social media platforms.”
But the rush to post information first poses the perils of misinformation.
“It underscores the need for everyone to refer to multiple news sources for information, not only your Twitter or Facebook feed, but also multiple social media outlets and traditional news sources such as newspapers and magazines,” Moody-Ramirez said. “It is more important than ever to be well-rounded in your collection of news information.”
As soon as a person discovers he or she has spread inaccurate information via social media, the person should remove it. Not only that — apologies should be made if someone has been misidentified or hurt by a post, she said.
Moody-Ramirez has published research about the pros and cons of using social media in political campaigns; the portrayal of minority women in the media and reality television; and racial stereotyping of women in rap music.
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