The Social Media

In class we took two whole periods to discuss 9/11. A question that was mentioned  during class was: do we do  enough to honor/remember this day? An article from CNN, Remembering 9/11 on Twitter and Facebook, mentioned how there was no acknowledgement of 9/11 on the front page of the New York Times or the New York Times Post. When I first read this fact I was shocked. I mean how could such a popular news company not bother to put such a significant event, such as 9/11, on the front page? However, I continued to read. Later in the article it showed how social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, made a strong effort to acknowledge the eleventh anniversary of 9/11. Many fellow Americans would post on their wall or tweet something in honor of 9/11, like "Never Forget". At first, I was still a bit surprised to see that the social media took more initiative on acknowledging the anniversary of 9/11, than the New York Times. The New York Times public editor, Margaret Sullivan, even stated, "The pain, the outrage, and the loss---those never fade. The amount of journalism, however, must." While I still found it strange about the New York Times, I realized that social media has probably the same, or even more, of an impact as the New York Times does. Social media has become such a large part of American culture. I mean how often do you hear people say, "I have to go on Facebook?" Social Media has become so popular because it is just so easy to access and use. While it has become such a prominent thing in our everyday lives, I wonder is having a story on the front page give the same respect and acknowledgment as having the the story being shared on social media?