In the wake of the Virginia Tech shooting, there's been lots written about how people are coming together online to remember and to grieve. Student leaders meeting in online chat rooms to plan responses. MySpace and Facebook tributes.
I can't deny the value of doing that, especially for people personally affected but separated by distance. And there's lots of discussion that after the first killings, warnings should have been sent by mobile text message as well as email.
But I also wonder if technology is really the best way to deal with this kind of tragedy. If you knew the people involved, and you're close enough to get together in person, that's obviously more supportive. And clearly there's been a lot of that going on. I suppose online remembrances could help supplement that.
But, if you're not there, and if you didn't know the people involved, then to a certain extent this becomes a media event, not a personal one. The wall-to-wall TV coverage and online frenzy could take on a bit of a voyeuristic tone, of people using technology to bring themselves closer to an emotional maelstrom that they're not actually connected to.
I'm just not sure exactly how I feel about that. Is that honoring the loss, or exploiting it?
No comments:
Post a Comment