Facebook. Facebook has redefined how people interact socially, what we consider normal behaviour and created a whole culture which the majority of my generation is a part of. Many of the people I know turn to Facebook to see what people are saying and for any updates during large social movements or moments of crisis. Recently I was given the assignment to log my Facebook usage for the duration of a week. The week I chose to do this log happened to be one of my most active weeks on Facebook to date. I happened to be writing my journal during the week of the Paris terrorist attacks on November 13, 2015. Following the attacks Facebook exploded with posts expressing sympathy, people sharing news stories to update on the unfolding events, while others chose to voice there opinion on political policy. A lot of the people adding to the conversation also happened to change their Facebook profile pictures to have the French flag overlay it, an option that Facebook offered to every user. Facebook also offered a “check in” feature to people in France, to let their friends on Facebook know that they were safe and sound.

These features created a lot of controversy within Facebook itself. Many of my friends voiced outrage over the fact that Facebook only chose to have this level of response when a western, white city was attacked. The controversy over selective attention to certain crises connects back to a subject we have been discussing in my english class- who’s life narratives get to be heard and who’s don’t. In this situation, however,  it is who’s life narratives are important enough to share and morn vs. those that are not. Major news outlets took notice of the publics dialogue and began to publish opinion pieces on it. One great thing this controversy has done is opened up a dialogue about western media not covering the tragedies that happen all over the world, but rather choosing only to focus on western cities. Consequently, I have noticed much more people sharing stories and making an effort to focus on a broader range of news articles, from all over the world not just western cities. In addition to the conversation about which stories get news coverage, there has been a significant increase in stories that focus on the immense amount of Islamaphobia that western societies exhibit. In a way, two very important issues that society needs to reflect on have been brought to the forefront of peoples minds.

In my opinion, I thought that some of the postings on Facebook edged close to being rude and insensitive to the situation. It felt as though they were trying to make it a competition between which tragedy got the most attention. The first article linked in this blog touches on grief becoming a performance within this phenomena, which was definitely a sentiment I felt as I scrolled through my newsfeed in the days following the attack. I thought that the outpouring of love on Facebook following the event was beautiful and therapeutic for a lot of people. That being said, I can see how this dialogue, whether it was phrased in a way I thought was respectful or not, has opened up new topics of conversation that can help us move towards a more inclusive society and a media industry that covers events around the world, and about all societies. The more broad the media coverage, the more accepting people will be. I believe that the dialogue happening on Facebook right now is helping to take steps towards making all societies narratives important, not just the ones that the major news outlets choose to cover.