Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Facebook Live Gone Wrong

Steve Stephens, or the Facebook Shooter, has been a hot topic of discussion- but for horrible reasons. Steve, 37, is accused of killing a pensioner on Sunday afternoon and posting the gruesome video on Facebook. In the video, the suspect bragged of killing multiple other victims, however police have not linked him to any other crimes.

It is perceived that a break up and coupled with heavy losses in gambling is what sparked Stephens' rage. Stephens had no criminal record and was heavily involved with working with youth throughout his life. There was a three day manhunt after the crime was committed that spanned across the country.

Facebook released a statement, saying that they never intend for Facebook Live to be used for inappropriate purposes, and that they tried to respond to the incident as soon as they were made aware of it. They released an exact time line of when reports starting coming in and when the videos were finally removed, but stated that they could always do better.

Facebook Live has seen some controversy lately, as there has been multiple high profile cases that were originally broadcasted live. In January, three men were arrested in Sweden on suspicion of raping a woman and broadcasting it on Facebook. Terrorists, political protesters, and other criminals seeking attention have long carried out public crimes to further their agenda. Facebook live has provided another medium to do so.

After the 3 day man hunt, police were able to locate Stephens location. After a short pursuit, Stephens committed suicide. Some of my peers have seen the video and warned me not to look at it. Even though Facebook has removed the video, it still circulates online.

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

United Airlines PR Nightmare



This photo, as well as countless other ones and videos, have been taking the internet by a storm. United Airlines forcibly removed a passenger from a flight from Chicago to Louisville after he refused to get off when he was randomly selected to disembark. He was dragged down the aisle by his arms with the rest of his body dragging on the ground.

United Airlines supposedly had to fly 4 crew members to Louisville after their original flight was canceled. They wanted to ensure that these crew members were to get to their destination so that another flight would not have to be canceled. While waiting in line to board the plane, passengers were offered $400 to voluntarily take the next flight. However, with the next flight being the following day, no one volunteered. Once passengers were seated, they then offered $800 and a free night in a hotel. This tempted 2 passengers to leave, however another pair of passengers were randomly selected by a computer.

These unlucky flyers were asked to gather their things and disembark the plane. However, one man refused, claiming to be a doctor who needed to get home to see patients. The airline called for security backup, who forcibly dragged him out of his seat and off the plane- distressing not only the man but of all those on the plane. There were reports of the man being knocked unconscious and bloodied by the amount of force used.

United Airlines later released this statement about the incident (after the video of said incident had millions of views):
Flight 3411 from Chicago to Louisville was overbooked. After our team looked for volunteers, one customer refused to leave the aircraft voluntarily and law enforcement was asked to come to the gate. We apologize for the overbook situation. Further details on the removed customer should be directed to authorities.
People were outraged by United Airlines statement, only apologizing for the overbooking and not for the mishandling of the passenger.  While the true accounts of the day have changed from different sources, it is true that the man refused to get off the plane and that he was dragged out. CNN stated that the United Airlines stock lost $600 million in todays stock market exchange.

Social media is what ultimately took United Airlines down. When 2 passengers took videos and posted it online, it immediately went viral, drawing copious amounts of unwanted attention to the airline.