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The Power of Social Media During the Paris Attacks
November 28th 2015 - Alex Tyrie
During the Attacks: As it happened
On the 13th of November the world watched in horror as brutal attacks and atrocities were committed across the city of Paris by terrorists linked to ISIS. As the news unfolded many of us were on our phones or computers, watching the events live through social media. In this article we will examine various social media trends during the attacks as well as the influence of social media during times like these as a whole.
The attacks began on the evening of the 13th, in the Stade de France, during a football match between France and Germany, when suicide bombers entered the stadium and detonated their vests. Minutes after, the first tweet went out; German, Johannes Muller tweets "Explosion in Stade de France? Was it a bomb, or just harmless?". This is the earliest social media posting I was able to find on the subject. Five minutes later, gunmen began shooting in another part of Paris. Twitter users provided live updates and pictures of the situation as gunmen roamed the city. Later, Twitter user "Rachidus" posted the following image of the crowd on the pitch in the Stade de France after further explosions
Panic was beginning to break out across Paris. Gunmen in the streets, suicide bombers at the stadium, this seemed to be a terrorist attack of a magnitude not seen in Europe before. A short clip of the game began to circulate with audible explosions in the background.
Approximately 20 minutes have passed since the attacks began. At the Bataclan, a concert venue, gunmen begin to shoot. On Facebook, Twitter and other sites users warn people to stay away from the Bataclan, reporting multiple deaths and several shooters. Parisians are warned against going outside. Social media was the first to report that hostages were being taken at the venue. Some hours later, the attacks concluded, with over a hundred dead and the world recoiling in horror.
The World is With Paris: Aftermath
In the aftermath of the brutal and bloody attacks, the world rallied behind Paris. Social media buzzed with activity and sympathy for those affected, and on Twitter the hashtag "PrayforParis" was trending. Facebook released a profile picture filter with the colours of the French flag for users to show solidarity with the French. Social sites such as Twitter offered firsthand accounts of the attacks, and other sites such as Reddit were able to compile news articles as they were written.
In this day and age of technology, many of us were able to watch the attacks unfold as they happened, which we weren't entirely able to do before. Even today, a week after the horrific events of the 13th, Paris is still the talk of the Internet, and while the terrorists may have killed many, the world remains strong and united with globalization, showing that we aren't afraid.