Viral Trends in Social Media

I think it is just part of human nature. People want to be looked as though they care, when they actually don't. Also, there is the thing of people doing what everyone else is doing. I also want to add of how indifferent people were toward other nations in war, such as the tension in Middle East, or the slavery currently taking place. However, people didn't care, and they do not have any reason to care for Paris either.

I agree with you guys. There are people who genuinely care who change their profiles to express it further and bringing awareness is a great way to help a cause, but changing your profile picture on FaceBook because your friends did and everyone you know already has kinda seems pointless. There are other ways to spread awareness like sharing articles or posting your thoughts on the case or even just talking to people about it in actual conversations would be more effective. All the profile picture conveys is that something has happened in France, and though it's a good way to start conversation, if you can't follow up to it, is it that you really care? Or do you just want to fit in or feel like a good person?

I agree. It's sad that some of the people who changed their profile pictures on facebook just because everyone was doing it uncoolumed that they were doing the right thing but in reality for the wrong reasons. Also, I was angry by the ignorant comments and tweets after the Paris Terrorist Attack. On facebook, some even tagged their friends on the post about the Paris attack and commented about how relieved they were that they had canceled their trips to Paris. I also understand how some feel that they are indifferent towards other nations. Social media does help in spreading awareness of such issues but it definitely has its downside.

I think all we can do is forgive those who try to fit in or gain attention by using those hashtags on social media. They are so desperate that they have to use an unfortunate and disastrous event to display their relevance in the online world...there's really no use in criticizing or attempting to correct them until they realize it themselves. But at the same time, I agree with Andrew, there are also plenty of people who feel grief and share information because they want to show empathy and educate others on the issue.. Social Media in our world today is the fastest way we learn, I bet a lot of us first knew about the Paris Attacks because of a post on Facebook, or the paris and peace symbol many shared on Instagram. Social Media can be positive, and we can all contribute to that by making educated posts or being aware of the truth, and not simply following the trends.

I am in complete agreement with Julia. The "#pray_for_Paris" and Paris flag filter on Facebook can be a quick and easy way to raise an awareness that something has happened in France. However, as many of you mentioned, it is useless if it just stops there. Along with hashtags and changed profile pictures, one can also share links to articles or videos regrading Paris bombing or open up a discussion about it. By doing so, one is able to convey a full awareness of Paris tragedy.  

Well, I don't think commenting and changing profile pictures to something that relates to helping Paris is actually helping Paris. I think that people comments things like #paris just for their own goods. Human nature is a key factor here. If someone heard that there was a terrorist attack in Paris, they'd probably get scared. This creates fear inside every people and this is what makes people to comment and do weird things over facebook. If you comment #pray for paris and receive thousand likes, then you know that there are other people who thinks the same as you. If you have groups of people that thinks the same as you, then you feel more safe. This is probably why people comments those things but yes there are people who actually cares about Paris and there are people who just wants to feel safe and secured by joining crowds of people in Media.

I think I read the same article as you, and I just want to link it in case others want to read it: medium.com/@sallygao/thoughts-on-facebook-s-change-your-profile-picture-to-support-paris-feature-97285db74a39#.6wz3uslly

I also agree with the message of this article. When the #prayforparis hashtag and the French Facebook filter first surfaced, I did as others were doing: I changed my Facebook profile picture to red, white, and blue (in my defense I did read some articles about the Paris attack, so I wasn't totally clueless about the issue at the time). I thought at the time that this was my way to show support for Parisians and their loved ones. However, as days past, I realized from the posts of educated others that the filter doesn't really mean anything. People still got hurt, people still are recovering, and people still got killed, yet all we were doing was clicking the button for the filter that was constantly recommended to us by the Facebook website. My acquaintance was suffering from the anxiety of not knowing how her family were doing in Paris, while the rest of us remote from the attack were satisfied encouraging with a filter colored like a flag. We were even ignoring other issues that had occurred the very same week, such as another muncool shooting in a Middle Eastern country.

The phrase "click to grieve" also really caught my eye from the article. That click was all that showed our support and sympathy for the Parisians. There was nothing more. Many of us probably made no effort to keep updated with the news of the attack, find out the details of the attack, see how people were coping with trauma from the attack, etc. Social media has become our medium for emotional expression: we add a Facebook filter to mourn a tragedy and watch others rant about their problems through posts on a screen instead of in person. We are losing our empathy through the apathetic world of social media and the online network.