by Eliana Diaz
As the world tries to reel from the reality of the shooting at Virginia Tech, many students and people from all over the world gather online to grieve and vent. From blogging to cell phone videos, technology has forever changed the way we process and communicate about tragedy- in good and bad ways.
Almost immediately after Monday’s deadly shootings, Virginia Tech students created memorial pages and survivor lists on Facebook to let one another and their loved ones know that they survived. Other students posted photos and cell phone video on their own sites, or shared it just hours after the shootings with news organizations.
Even before the names of the victims were officially released, a few students created Facebook memorial pages for some of the dead- though others worried that it was too soon, especially since family and friends were still being notified.
In addition to using the university’s Web site to communicate with the world, Virginia Tech officials have planned to set up a site where families of the victims could post photos.
TechSideline.com, a site for VT sports fans, also quickly morphed into a meeting place where students, family and friends could communicate especially when phones were jammed. As a show of support, many students, including scores from other colleges, replaced their Facebook profile photos with a VT logo shrouded in a black ribbon.
Just as the memorial pages are used as a form to grieve, many people have taken it upon themselves to create several pages that included hateful, sometimes racist remarks toward shooter Cho Seung-Hui, other Asians and his family.
One has to wonder at that at times like this, in the face of disaster and sorrow, the help that the Internet provides during tragedies like these is powerful and undeniable.
