After I got the text alert reading “DANGEROUS SITUATION” early Thursday morning, I honestly didn’t pay a lot of mind to it. I was at my friend’s house, away from campus. I figured it was a test alert or something along those lines.
Before I laid down in bed, I did my typical check-every-social-network thing (which really isn’t the healthiest thing to do) before I fell asleep. It was when I scrolled through my Twitter feed that I finally saw what was going on.
Like many others in Tallahassee that night, I didn’t get a lot of sleep. Instead, I stayed up until the early hours of the morning, refreshing my newsfeeds to read up on all of the information surrounding the shooting as much as possible. I interacted with peers. I was able to get updates from Strozier as it was literally happening. I saw the outpouring of love that started to come from people all over the nation. It’s weird, but being able to stay connected made me feel at ease because I never felt as though I was left in the dark.
The day of November 20th made me realize how important social media truly is.
Guys, we are so incredibly lucky to log on to our Facebook or Twitter and be informed about what’s going on in the world around us. It’s put straight into the palms of our hands. From the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians, to the Ferguson protests, right up to the most surreal moment that I have ever encountered as a Florida State student, we’re able to know what the hell is actually going on around us on a daily basis – all at the click of a mouse or a tap on our smart phones. Type in the word “news” into any social media outlet and be welcomed with a plethora of material. We can get a first-hand account of a crisis, protest, political uprising, or weather disaster from people who are actually there, which is amazing in itself. We can speak our minds and be a movement for change. We can be there for others even if we aren’t physically with them, which is something that I’m sure was of utmost importance on Thursday morning.
I can’t even begin to describe how happy I was to have something like Twitter the other night. It was amazing to see everyone come together at the drop of a hat. With live updates that were sometimes even accompanied with pictures, anyone who was a part of the FSU community was able to feel connected to their peers in a dark time. The amount of support I saw going to people trapped in Strozier was just astounding. It was simply a perfect example of what this university is all about.
Forget the food pictures and the statuses complaining how the line at Target was just ~*so0o0o*~long. Take advantage of the fact that we’re a generation that has access to important world events happening right now.