Social Media

Paris Attacks Demonstrate The Relevance Of Social Media

Social media brings us a whole new world.

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Social media became our means of communicating and getting information following Friday’s terrorist attacks — not only for Parisians, but for people around the world.

People were more apt to turn to Twitter, especially its new “Moments” feature, than traditional news sources, on- or off-line. People with a smartphone near the scene of the attacks became instantaneous “citizen journalists.”

CNN may have been where most Americans turned for news on 9/11. Not so anymore. Today, we turn to each other around the world on social media.

The pictures I received via Twitter on Friday were gut-wrenching. Scenes of war brought vividly to my iPhone. Perhaps more than I wanted to see, but social media certainly brought the brutality of terrorism to me.

eNews Channel Africa reported that the French took to social media to find friends and relatives, to search for shelter, and to tell the world they were safe.

Internet users posted appeals on Twitter to find loved ones who had last been scene at the the soccer stadium and the Bataclan theatre.

If anyone has news of Lola, aged 17, at #Bataclan this evening, contact us,” read one post, while another expressed concern for a friend Thibault, who was also at the concert. “He’s not getting back to me: help me”, it read.

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Reminds me of the pictures of loved ones and messages people posted on fences near the the World Trade Center following the 9/11 attacks.

Thousands of Parisians, per eNews, used the hashtag #PorteOuverte (open door) to organize places to stay for people who had been left stranded, particularly in areas close to the attacks. The hashtag was reposted 480,000 times, making it the second-most used keyword on Twitter in France after #fusillade (shooting), which was used 700,000 times.

If people are stranded, I can accommodate two of three people on Rue des Martyrs,” offered one user, while @WabDeLioncourt said: “Our sofa is always available for two/three people in Marchers.”

By late Friday afternoon I received notices, without prompting, that a couple Facebook friends were safe.

How so? From Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg:

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Until yesterday, our policy was only to activate Safety Check for natural disasters. We just changed this and now plan to activate Safety Check for more human disasters going forward as well.

Citizen journalists reporting from the scene, people looking for loved ones, and others offering to help. Social media brings us a whole new world.

Kevin O’Keefe (@kevinokeefe) is the CEO and founder of LexBlog, which empowers lawyers to increase their visibility and accelerate business relationships online. With LexBlog’s help, legal professionals use their subject matter expertise to drive powerful business development through blogging and social media. Visit LexBlog.com.

LexBlog also hosts LXBN, the world’s largest network of professional blogs. With more than 8,000 authors, LXBN is the only media source featuring the latest lawyer-generated commentary on news and issues from around the globe. Visit lxbn.com now.

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