Social Media on College Campuses
The rise of social media has opened new doors for businesses to spread their message and influence their consumers. It has revolutionized the way we do business and connect with others.
As college students, we utilize social media to catch up on news, look into a company we might want to work for, get in touch with friends and so much more. But it is also an important tool that colleges are now using more and more to keep their students safe.
Recently, there have been threats of terrorism in both the University of Alabama and the University of Georgia. Both are very large schools and need a way to massively connect with their students and faculty members to keep them informed on the situation.
On the evening of September 21st, students at the University of Alabama became aware of threats on their campus. Frantically searching for information, the students turned to campus police and the school only to find no real information and plenty of students starting rumors. This not only made the situation more frightful, it also showed how things can quickly escalate when the authorities fail to inform the students and faculty.
Going to a school with almost 35,000 students, it is imperative to have a highly effective system to notify and inform students on what is happening on their campus in order to ensure maximum safety and calm among the students. Finally, the University Police and administration made an official statement saying that it was safe on campus and in the dorms and that the students were free to resume with their plans. However, this came after rumors had already circulated throughout the student body and many thought the statement came a little too late.
My sincerest hope is after this incident, the University of Alabama can update their information systems and provide the best security for all their students.
On the afternoon of September 19th, the University of Georgia reacted to a suspicious post on the popular app Yik Yak, which stated that there would be violence at the Miller Learning Center, a popular study spot on campus. Campus police reacted by sending text messages, two emails, two phone calls and the school newspaper, Twitter and Facebook were all up to date on the most recent news. As a student here, I felt complete and total confidence in our alert system and felt safe at all times. Like many of my classmates, I turned to the school's social media platforms for all the latest news and developments until it was safe to resume classes in the Miller Learning Center.
Fortunately, both situations at both schools were quickly and safely resolved. Situations such as these are unfortunately a common occurrence on college campuses today and it is vital to have a system that massively informs all students and reassures that safety is their number one priority. Schools that update their social media channels in moments like these can put the student body at ease and keep everyone safe and informed.
According to The Odyssey’s article titled “UPDATE: University of Alabama Police Refrain from Responding to Death Threats”, “The only sources of information for students up until midnight were social media accounts and hearsay rumors circulating the campus. #PrayForBama began trending on all social media sites, but no information was released from the school for hours”.
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| Tweet from the UGA Alert system on September 19th taken from the Red and Black |
http://www.redandblack.com/uganews/uga-police-have-issued-an-all-clear-for-the-mlc/article_ea4111ba-4019-11e4-9a20-001a4bcf6878.html
http://theodysseyonline.com/alabama/university-alabama-police-refrain-responding-death-threats/68276
This is something I am incredibly grateful for and like most about social media and how helpful it has become. When I think back to when social media wasn't around and major events were happening both good and bad, I wouldn't know how to handle not getting updates as fast as we do now. It helps give immediate assurance as opposed to waiting around for an update on the news.
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking about this the other day how we found out about events in the past. I can not imagine life without social media now. It has helped (and hurt) us in so many ways. In my opinion the pros outweigh the cons for this very reason that it can update us at such an incredible speed. If something bad or good is going on in the world the first thing i look to is twitter because it is so up to date and so easy to check at the palm of my hand. I can not imagine breaking news without twitter (as sad as that is) it is just such a great way to find anything and everything out.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do think that social media definitely helped to some extent with the spread of information in these situations, I found it to also be a source of some of the problems. Both of these threats were spread anonymously through social media and caused a significant amount of panic and fear even though they ended up being complete bluffs. Additionally, people on social media can tend to exaggerate or misunderstand situations, which can lead to further misunderstanding and more problems. So while social media did good in both occurrences, I feel they probably wouldn't have happened in the first place if people hadn't taken advantage of how fast false information spreads through these platforms.
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ReplyDeleteI agree that social media can be good and bad in these situations. I also appreciate the efforts UGA took to keep students up to date on their social media outlets as well as through the campus alert system. Even though these two threats were both started on social media and rumors escalated on numerous sites, I agree that the pros of social media outweighs the cons. The students in both cases had access to updated and real-time alerts that kept the majority of students calm and safe. That is something I am thankful for and cannot imagine life without. Unfortunately threats such as these have been made in the past without social media, therefore the ability to track the status and validity of the concerns in real-time is a huge advantage our generation has thanks to social media.
ReplyDeletei see both sides of the argument that social media can both help spread awareness in time of alert and also introduce unwanted/unneeded panic in time of false alarm. I think that is good that schools are able to inform students with accurate information quickly through social media outlets and emails. This allows students to be aware of what is going on and allows them to get to safety without being involved in danger. Social media is apart of everyones daily lives now a days and when used correctly, can help more than hurt.
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