Terror on Twittter, Facebook and Youtube
Reid Whittaker
Professor Sarah Copland
ENGL 102 PN80
January 21, 2015
Word count: 508
Terror on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube
In “Terror on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube” Gabriel Weimann argues that social media has greatly aided the spread of terrorism over the advancement of technology in online communication. Weimann examines the use of interactive online communication by terrorists and their supporter- from chatrooms to social media and online video communities. Chatrooms provide terrorists minimal risk of being identified or located by government agencies due to the free nature of joining these online rooms anonymously. With advancement in technology over the years, these virtual rooms are capable to have audio and video capabilities. This allows terrorists to optimize the success rate of aiding and recruiting new members to their organization. Most of these chatrooms allow for global chat with random strangers since all the messages are public for anyone to see. With this openness, terrorists have made simple propaganda adds and as extreme as instructional videos on how to make improvised explosives and how to execute suicide bombings. Weimann goes on to express the use of social media websites that assist terrorists in collecting and sending out data onto the public site. These social media sites like Facebook and Twitter allow for real time discussions and planning to occur but also is risky for the terrorists to use due to their true identities to be found. These social media sites Weimann explains, puts soldiers at risk of the enemy to learn their location and plans. Even though government agencies like the “Federal Bureau of Investigation”, monitor these websites but it is almost impossible to track the location of the terrorists using them. Weimann expresses the idea that identities being stolen over the social media sites is small but the chances of this being done is possible. A main online video community that sparked the rapid development of
Professor Sarah Copland
ENGL 102 PN80
January 21, 2015
Word count: 508
Terror on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube
In “Terror on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube” Gabriel Weimann argues that social media has greatly aided the spread of terrorism over the advancement of technology in online communication. Weimann examines the use of interactive online communication by terrorists and their supporter- from chatrooms to social media and online video communities. Chatrooms provide terrorists minimal risk of being identified or located by government agencies due to the free nature of joining these online rooms anonymously. With advancement in technology over the years, these virtual rooms are capable to have audio and video capabilities. This allows terrorists to optimize the success rate of aiding and recruiting new members to their organization. Most of these chatrooms allow for global chat with random strangers since all the messages are public for anyone to see. With this openness, terrorists have made simple propaganda adds and as extreme as instructional videos on how to make improvised explosives and how to execute suicide bombings. Weimann goes on to express the use of social media websites that assist terrorists in collecting and sending out data onto the public site. These social media sites like Facebook and Twitter allow for real time discussions and planning to occur but also is risky for the terrorists to use due to their true identities to be found. These social media sites Weimann explains, puts soldiers at risk of the enemy to learn their location and plans. Even though government agencies like the “Federal Bureau of Investigation”, monitor these websites but it is almost impossible to track the location of the terrorists using them. Weimann expresses the idea that identities being stolen over the social media sites is small but the chances of this being done is possible. A main online video community that sparked the rapid development of