Jack The Ripper: Social Media Analysis

In the first half of 2016, the United States alone has had over 136 mass shootings (by definition, an incident in which four or more people are wounded or killed), and is growing rapidly. (Gun Violence Archive) This topic in particular has been one of heavy discussion in the past few years, due to a wide range of interests. Is it because of the current implementation on firearm laws in the United States, or something much more sinister? In today’s world, the moment that a mass shooting erupts everything comes to a screeching halt and our nation’s attention turns towards it. With the increasing amount of social media that is enrooted in our daily lives, everyone knows about the situation within minutes. News outlets around the country compete to arrive first and begin covering the event and inform viewers of what’s going on. The coverage though, has a much deeper impact than most realize. A shocking percentage of perpetrators of mass shootings have committed their acts in search of recognition or fame via the media. Due to this, news outlets must expurgate their coverage of mass shootings, …show more content…
Of course, the nature of the events has changed but, when Jack the Ripper was such a terror invoking topic for the citizens of London in the late 1880s, criminologists quickly became aware of the impact that coverage of the events had. This occurrence of replicated crimes being committed around the time frames of popular serial killers continued into the early 1990s. The incessant sensationalized style of reporting that occurred during the late 70s about the Zodiac Killer resulted in the same effect. Day after day, more articles arose about the Zodiac Killer striking again, and each time released these grim details regarding the murders. Research shows that these articles published and the amount of momentum the Zodiac Killer’s story had behind it, directly caused the explosion of copycats that