Bobby White. Before just a few weeks ago, that name would
have been unknown. Who is he you ask? He’s the police officer from Gainesville,
FL who got a call complaining about noisy basketball players in a neighborhood.
He responded to the call and when he showed up, he found just a few teenage
kids shooting hoops in the street, minding their own business. In a dash-cam
video that was released later, it shows White telling the boys that he did not
have a problem with them playing ball. He actually ends up joining in and
playing. After a few minutes of this, the officer leaves and asks the boys if
they’ll be there tomorrow and if so, that he’ll bring a few of his fellow
officers and they can play a real game. After setting that scene… here I come
with the real reason this story is important which is… the effect that social
media had on this story.
Like I said earlier, the dash-cam video was leaked onto the
internet and the video went viral within hours.
To the Gainesville police department and Officer Bobby White’s surprise,
former NBA player Shaquille O’Neal saw the video and got in contact with the
police department. He wanted to go and surprise the kids the next day with
them. They all showed up and the kids were in AWE. They played some basketball
and got some autographs and that was that.
Why is this a big deal and why did this go viral, you ask? In
my opinion, I think that it did for two different reasons. First of all, within
the mainstream press there has been a theme of police brutality from white police
officers towards black male youth. This video that was shared was the exact
opposite of the norm. I think that is what initially caught the public’s attention.
The video pulls at my heart strings a little bit and makes me have a lot of
respect for Officer White, ya know? But maybe that’s just me.
The second reason that this story became viral is because of
the power of celebrity. Do you think that this story would have reached the magnitude
that it did without the presence of Shaquille O’Neal? Probably not. But there
is still a slight hope in me that it would have even if Shaq didn’t
participate. I just can’t get over the feel-good vibe I get from Officer White
and his attitude towards his job. The best part about this is that it probably
changed those kids’ lives for the rest of time. How often do you become a viral
Youtube hit AND get to play basketball with Shaq? Probably never. The deciding
factor in this equation is social media. It always seems to be nowadays. I want
to go a little bit deeper into the details of the power of celebrity and how
social media affects it.
The simple fact that a world-renowned NBA player was
involved in this Florida story made it 10x more interesting to us. How? Why do
we care so much? I think I can pin point just the reason why… the internet. To
be more specific, social media is what I’m talking about. Yes, there were
celebrities before the internet and people were just as obsessed with them. What
about before television and the radio though? The only possible way someone
could be well known was through the word of mouth. But then the internet was
invented, and soon came social media, and soon came the ability to stalk pretty
much any public figure that you can imagine… all within seconds.
Celebrities
have millions of followers on multiple accounts. As soon as you see your
favorite celeb doing something… you become intrigued, and then can stalk and research
everything about that person or situation. It’s a never ending loop that I’m
now just thinking about and it’s starting to make me feel a little funny.
Because like I’ve said before, the internet isn’t a real physical thing. We can’t
touch it. And yet, with cases like the one with Officer Bobby White it can
change our lives and for some people, even gives you an opportunity to play
basketball with Shaq.
