The innocent Ryan Lanza had to take to social media to protest his innocence
In the aftermath of the Newtown shootings, many Twitter users became instant experts on gun control while others turned detective. It wasn't social media users that misidentified the killer as Ryan Lanza rather than his younger brother Adam – but once that titbit was out in the world, anyone bearing the name Ryan Lanza became fair game. Links to Facebook pages and Twitter accounts were shared by mainstream media outlets and web detectives alike.
While the Ryan Lanza related to the case desperately sent status updates to his friends denying he was involved, his picture was bouncing around the world. Meanwhile, a Twitter user with the name @Ryan_Lanza went from a handful of followers to thousands as he was deluged with abuse. An odd, feverish desire to make comment and seek answers takes hold on social media after tragedies. The unconnected individuals unfortunate enough to be called Ryan Lanza were by no means the first people in recent years to find themselves pursued by a baying online mob.
In 2010, a man named Casey Anthony had to repeatedly tell Facebook users threatening him that he was nothing to do with Casey Anthony, a mother acquitted of murdering her two-year-old daughter. After the mass shootings in Aurora, Colorado in July 2011, Facebook users unfortunate enough to share the same name as the accused, James Holmes, were swamped with friend requests and threats. Cases of mistaken identity can be particularly toxic when the amplifying effect of social media comes into play. The false accusations are not easily scrubbed from the record.
When the ease with which we can search the web is combined with a desperate desire to make sense of a horrific event, it's unsurprising that some people turn themselves into amateur sleuths without any thought for the consequences. But there is a crazed hunger for new information that allows the unsubstantiated to quickly become the gospel truth and knee-jerk commentary to spread quickly. Often in the age of social media reporting, the truth is still booting up its laptop while the lie has been tweeted around the world.
It was a particularly modern twist to the horrific events of Friday that Ryan Lanza had to turn to his Facebook page to declare his innocence just after discovering that his mother was dead and his brother was a killer. The way in which information is processed through social media often makes the aftermath of tragedies feel as though someone has their finger jammed on fast forward. We rush from scrabbling for facts to attempting to process them to recrimination and glib solutions.
Some might look to the sheer weight of comments on Facebook and Twitter calling for gun control and feel hopeful that the politicians will take notice. But the pressure from social media lacks something the more traditional lobbyists have – money. After every mass shooting, there is a cry of "never again" which fades in time. Putting that message out via Twitter is unlikely to make it last any longer. That it's now easier to see how the world reacts doesn't mean those who can effect change will react any faster. The shock and anger comes quickly but, like Ryan Lanza's name sinking back down the search results, solutions come far too slowly.
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