CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Social media played a key role during UNC’s school shooting. It captured the live and post reactions from students. But with that came a lot of mis- and dis-information.
Multiple viral videos and posts on sites like Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat notified the community that a lockdown was in place on campus after shots were fired, killing one faculty member. But the anonymous app YikYak in particular became a hotspot for rumors during the tense hours-long lockdown.
“Information on social media is almost always not validated and often inaccurate,” said Katherine Schweit, founder of the FBI’s Active Shooter Program.
Many of these rumors also found their way into group chats where students claimed that over 10 students were killed or injured.
Sophomore student Jadon Wellum says he saw several YikYak posts falsely claiming the gunman had taken hostages.
Other unverified reports wrongly suggested an arrest had been made for the suspect, despite police still searching for them.
“It’s one thing when somebody picks up a telephone and says ‘I heard this,’” said Schweit. “It’s another thing when you post something on social media…then in your mind there’s a shooter at every doorway.”
She added that information on social media following a school shooting almost always proves to be inaccurate.
A viral lockdown video I recorded reached over 15 million views online. It captured the chaos and fear many felt in that moment. The footage shows scenes of students hiding under desks, fearing for their lives, and contacting loved ones.
The conversation about the lockdown continued online into the comments of that video, with many users on Instagram offering their take and reactions. It also prompted a wave of extremist responses, with racist and Nazi-related topics predominant in an analysis of over 17,000 comments.
The sheer impact on individuals was also clear. Among the most frequent words to come up in the comments was “people.”
“It’s a learning process,” Schweit said. “Ten years ago, we didn’t have to worry that people were getting their information from social media and sharing it.”
As discussions continue on causes and solutions to school shootings, it’s clear they will involve learning how best to use social media to contain misinformation.
We reached out to YikYak for a comment, but the company did not respond for this story.