• by Betsy , April 20, 2007

If you get on Facebook and search ‘Cho Seung-Hui’ 179 groups appear:
“Cho Seung Hui, if you had a myspace, Tom wouldn’t be your friend”
“Cho Seung-Hui does not represent Koreans”
“Cho Seung Hui is a Douchebag”

Just to name a few. People are using facebook by creating groups to express their feelings against this person, this crazed murderer.

These groups demonstrate that people are not using Facebook just as a social networking site to join people together, but it has become more about community than most of us realized. Members are using it to expressing their feelings about the whole situation. From Koreans saying he does not represent them and their culture, to others who just call him varying names as well as condemning him for his actions.

But what a reaction! 179 groups as of 2pm on Friday, April 20th. With members joining just as fast - the groups are growing.

The number of groups that have popped up only scratches the surface, let's actually dive into a few groups and see what people are saying. From the first group on the list, called "Blame Cho Seung-Hui (VT Shooter)": “Instead of the media playing the blame game, how about they and everybody else do the logical thing and blame the coward that actually shot these students? You just cannot predict what people are going to do. This was not the administration's fault.” A political discussion??

On the discussion board in the group, “you all are blinded by your Americanism” is a discussion feed starter . . . with 785 posts by 83 people. That rounds out to be about 10 posts per person. How long does it take you to post 10 times, or to watch a post that long? 15 minutes . . . half an hour?

Look at how Facebook is being used in this time of confusion and crisis. People are expressing thoughts and feelings at a rapid pace from across the globe in one area. Amazing.