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Social Media: The Newest Stage of Grieving

In this week's events, thousands of people have turned to social media to convey their outrage, sadness, and condolences. Students of Parkland live tweeted the horrific shooting attack they endured this Wednesday and the aftermath they face. As I scroll through my feed, I see hundreds of tweets from celebrities, victims, and others voicing their anger for the senseless and avoidable killings. In less than 300 characters, people are able to speak volumes. I think this use of social media is positive for everyone so that they may see the viewpoints of others and hopefully understand how much we need change. Most of all, I love that Twitter is giving a voice to teenagers, especially in this moment. Hardly anyone takes them seriously in life due to their age or lack of experience or immaturity. But they are our future and right now, they know more than anyone how bad things are and how much we need change. They will be the generation to reverse a lot of the damage that has been done. The first step is for them to form their opinions fully and voice them, which social media allows. I am so glad when I see younger people spreading logical, thoughtful posts that empower them and others. I think that in this moment, these teens are more right than anyone. That's a statement I would rarely say, but they've survived something most of us have never had to go through. By using social media as their outlet, people are able to decompress and deal with the events. These platforms let them connect with others and find people to help them understand and deal with the horrible tragedy. Most interestingly, I think that social media has become a new step in the grieving process. Almost everyone turns to social media when they are dealing with a difficult situation. There are many reasons why people do this. I feel that some use it as a way to call out to others for support and positivity. While others simply do it to "get it off their chest" and feel relief. I think that it is the newest way for people to allow themselves to handle anything that occurs. It seems to be related to the fact that we rarely have face-to-face conversations anymore and many of our friends are made and maintained over the internet. While this is so great for many, the use of social media to spread hate and threats is also a reality. After this particular shooting, dozens of threats were spread online. For this reason, the internet is truly good or bad depending on who is using it. While we experience so much bad, we have so much good to help us get through it. This week's events and past occurrences have demonstrated how powerful our social media can be and how significant it is in the process of grieving.

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