Social Media Playing Key Role In Recent Police Shootings
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The police shooting in Minnesota is the first believed to be live-streamed on social media here in the United States.
That recording and the Louisiana shooting have sparked protests nationwide.
Over 4 million people have now watched the live stream video on of the Minnesota shooting on Diamond Reynolds' Facebook page.
Reynolds began filming seconds after her boyfriend was shot multiple times by police during a traffic stop.
"This is a game changer," USC Professor of Social Media Karen North said.
"We are all hardwired to believe what we see, and now that people can record video or live stream it, we can see it in real time and make our own decisions about what happened," North added.
Social media has seen a major and increasing role in the fight for justice.
"We all feel that we've seen it live, we're feel like we're witnesses to the event," she added.
Just one day before the Minnesota police shooting, the death of Alton Sterling at the hands of police in Baton Rouge was also caught on camera and posted to social media.
Research has proved that people are much more likely to connect with something in social media if it includes photos or videos.
North also cautions that just the live stream does not tell the entire story.
"From the social justice point of view, everybody is on notice that everything could be videotaped," North added.
