The events that took place concerning the death of Michael Brown have been shrouded in doubt ever since his controversial shooting on the 9th of August. Social media has provided an avenue, allowing people from all walks of life to freely share their side of the story, turning Michael Brown’s death into a global phenomenon. On August 11th, two days after the death of Michael Brown word had spread causing the virality of its story. Social media giants, Twitter and Facebook had become the catalyst of this movement. Hashtag #MikeBrown became the link to a plethora of interpretations and opinions through a simple click of a button. On Twitter hashtag #IfTheyGunnedMeDown became a worldwide trending topic. According to the Desert News exert “Everything you need to know about the situation in Ferguson, Missouri” the hashtag was used to “decry what they viewed as Brown’s unfair portrayal in the media, using contrasting photos of themselves in accomplished settings with more juvenile pictures.” This was just one of the many social protests made possible by social media and various platforms.
To get a better insight into this movement I conducted an impromptu interview with Jason Gold, a devoted teenager supporting the hashtag through Twitter. In my interview with him through Twitter, Jason stated that “Young Black Men our being advertised to the public in a negative light”. He was astonished with the way African Americans were being framed through mainstream media outlets. Throughout the interview, Gold told me further of frustrations with the medias framing of African Americans stating that “This is has to stop, for America and its people to move in the right direction.” My interview with Jason was a great an example of how social media has and will play an important role in the protest and development of issues around the world.
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