Social Media Case Reflection 1

The recent Kilroy’s incident is somewhat shocking in more ways than one. What happened on New Years Eve at this bar & grill in downtown Indianapolis has been heavily talked about over several social media outlets. This case brings up plenty of interesting questions involving social media and its supernatural way of engulfing the entire world into heated online conversations.

 

First of all, let’s briefly set the scene. Holly Jones posted a review of her dining experience at Kilroy’s on Facebook after her New Years Eve meal. A medical emergency occurred involving a 70-year-old woman experiencing a heart attack at the restaurant, consequently causing delays in service and the atmosphere of the restaurant. However, at the time, Holly thought it was a drug addict suffering from an overdose. Jones’ online responses to this event came out pretty spicy, bold, and negative. Later, a manager from Kilroy’s named Chris Burton commented on her post and defended the restaurant and employees all the while sassing it up and sort of ‘putting her in her place’, so to speak.

"I appreciate anyone who chooses to spend their money at Kilroy's until they act like you. You can take your money anywhere else after that, and I won't lose a second of sleep over it. Happy New Year!" Burton responded.

The internet had a hay-day and the post became viral. Facebook users united and the online mob-mentality spread like wildfire. According to wisegeek.com, mob-mentality is roughly defined as the ability for an individual to act in a certain way within a group and feel as though they won’t suffer the same consequences as if they were acting alone. Basically, you can say or do whatever the crap you want collectively as a group, and not feel the guilt of your consequences. In this case, the general public pounced on Holly Jones without thinking twice because they were behind a computer screen. Everyone else was doing it. Do I think that the things Jones said were ok? No. But she received death threats. DEATH TREATS PEOPLE. Over a paragraph she wrote on the internet. A few individuals with the same name as Holly Jones had to deactivate their Facebook accounts because of the amount of violent messages they were receiving about this. Danny Brown states my feelings perfectly in this article:

“Do insensitive and racist/bigoted comments need calling out? Yes. Does that mean any subsequent anger is okay to descend into bullying and mob mentality, though? A resounding no.”

“While we may feel it’s funny to latch onto a trending topic or viral event, it’s all too easy to forget in the heat of the moment what the eventual outcome may be.”

 With the recent popularity rise of social media in the past decade, the inherent ability to say whatever you want on the internet without consequence has been a confounding factor in the increase of cyber-bullying. As I said in a previous blog post, you can be whoever you want online. There is no fear of having to back up what you say in a face-to-face conversation. That’s the World Wide Web’s poison. Popular social media does however mean that people who have access to the internet now have a place to practice free speech and state their opinions. I think that’s a great benefit of our cyber world.

An additional fascinating point that this situation brings up is the power of information. Without the internet, Twitter, Facebook, etc., we likely would not have even heard about the near death experience at Kilroy’s on New Years Eve. I think that is the beauty of having the entire world at our finger tips. We can be updated on what’s happening around the world literally with a single click. Messages about national security, current events, maps, and even weather reports are now things that we all carry around in our pockets to use at our own will and pleasure. Imagine saying that to someone who grew up in the 20’s and they would probably have a heart attack or two.

Social media can be a great resource for society to create positive social change.

Although it has its downsides, the internet is a place that human kind can better themselves. According to: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kilroys-heart-attack-response_us_568b1b42e4b014efe0db7953 , a GoFundMe account was created to raise money for the 70 year old woman’s hospital bills. Within the first day, the account had raised over $10,000.

It is incidents like Kilroy’s that create a discussion about our social media culture and how it effects our lives. Conversations like this need to continue to happen so that society can continue to evolve. I’m sure we’ll have plenty more examples like this one to learn from in the future.